Turning Points III
by Ulrich
Summary: a NGE-What If? * featuring an alternative timeline * completed
1. Introduction and Prolog

Turning Points - Tale 3: Rei Ayanami  
  
a NGE/Mage - The Ascension/Ars Magica - Crossover  
  
  
Legal Boilerplate:  
Princess Maker, NGE and the Charakters are property of GAINAX, etc.pp.  
Mage is property of White Wolf.  
Ars Magica is property of Atlas Games.  
Wolf Larsen and Winter diArgio is mine, as are all mistakes.  
  
Note: I am german and this story is a translation from german to english, so it wouldn´t  
surprise me if it is full of all kinds of mistakes.  
It´s the third FF I wrote, and while all my FFs are stories with a beginning and an end  
of their own, I write them all under the Turning Point label.  
  
  
  
Introduction:  
  
Bubbles, countless bubbles, large and small ones.  
Each bubble represents a reality, a possibility, one version of truth.  
This is the secret of the Turning Points...  
  
About 80% of these bubbles are moving toward a common point, a lot of them are already  
moving together, forming a larger bubble about to explode. Within these realities the  
Third Impact took place, within these worlds only Shinji Ikari and Asuka Langley are left  
at the shores of a blood-red sea. - Well, there is one reality where Touji Sozuhara was  
chosen by Rei-Lilith to create the future, but this is not of further importance.  
  
In about further 10% of these possible realities earth is empty, completly devoit of  
human life, by one way or the other humanity managed to destroy itself before the year  
2000 or the angels managed to reach Lilith or Adam, maybe there even never existed  
humanity - within a handful of these possibilities dinosaurs became the dominating species,  
or apes rule.  
  
Within 5% more there never was a Second Impact.  
  
Within 2% earth was conquered by aliens.  
  
The final 3% on the other hand are those where Gendo Ikari´s szenario failed, where  
the Third Impact was prevented. And within one of these realities still exists a kind of  
magic...  
  
  
Prolog:  
  
NERV, Gendo Ikari´s bureau:  
  
"I guess that Shinji will stay with you, Commander?"  
  
"No, Captain Katsuragi. I am not used to the company of other people and he isn´t, too."  
  
"But he´s your son..."  
  
"Primary he is the pilot of unit one. This is the better way."  
  
"Then... then I ask for permission to have him move in with me."  
  
Ikari looked at her questionly.  
"You want to care for him?"  
  
"He is new to Tokio-3, he knows no one else here."  
  
"Hm... Your idea has some advantages, so you can keep an eye on him."  
  
"Commander, I..."  
  
"I accept. You can take him with you when he leaves the medical ward."  
  
"Yes."  
Sie hesitated.  
  
"Anything else, Captain?"  
  
"What about Rei? I could..."  
  
"Rei is not your business. You can go now, Captain Katsuragi."  
  
"Yes, Sir."  
  
  
***  
  
  
Beyond the borders of reality, there where truth and dream became one on the other side  
of the mirror, the Tempest was roaring, as it was roaring for more than fourteen years,  
since the fateful day when the antarctis was destroyed within an ocean of fire.  
Since the year 2000 the mighty Tempest hadn´t ceased in it´s strenght, ripping apart  
everything coming within the reach of it´s stormy claws, seperating the mundane realm  
from the spirit realms.  
  
The man stood on the top on an artificial cliff raising out of the eternal darkness high   
above the maelstorm, looking into the abyss with eyes the colour of fresh grey ice.  
Only one step seperated him from oblivion, just a step...  
Just one step to leave behind his failture, which had lead to the death of friends and  
brothers in arms, the failture which had marked the end of the ascension war and had   
given victory to the enemy, which had shattered the combined forces of the Traditions...  
Just a step and he would never be cold again, would finish the state he was in since more  
than eighthundred years, since he had become one with the Umbrood, one of the creatures   
from beyond...  
For more than ten years he found himself at this place again and again, unable to do the  
final step. Something always stopped him, called him back...  
  
Within the zone of absolutly silence above the Tempest the slight breath of air hit him  
like a fist, when a portal was opened in his back.  
He turned the head a bit.  
"What do thou want, Cassandra?"  
  
The newcomer looked at him with blind eyes butt seeing non the less.  
"Thou are needed, Magus diArgio."  
  
He supprested the laugh which formed in his throat.  
"It must be important or thou wouldn´t have come personally." he whispered.  
  
"The whole future is at stake."  
  
He turned around fully, leaving the Tempest behind, closing his heart to the calling,  
ignoring the wailing.  
"What did thou see, prophetess?"  
  
"The end..."  
  
He smiled thinly, thinking about the irony of the situation. He should have been prepared,  
shoud have awaited to be needed again as soon as he was able for the final step. It wasn´t  
the first time he was called back from oblivion´s gate...  
And it was a special irony that it was always him they called...  
In his whole lifetime he had only failed three times, once as a husband, leading to the   
death of his wife and her mortal lover, as a teacher, leading to the birth of one of the  
worst dark mages wandering the realms, and as leader of the Tradition´s combined forces.  
His last fault would normally have been enough to send him into exile behind the veil. But  
the Order needed him, because of him being the last of the masters of had stayed on this  
side of the Tempest, because of him not having fled from the forces of the Technocracy into  
the depth of the umbral spirit realms.  
  
He was Winter diArgio, last archmage of House ex Miscellanea from Jerbiton´s lineage, son  
and student of Ambros of Agion´s blood, he was the Dark Savant... 


	2. Chapter 01 - It started with a smile...

Chapter 01 - It started with a smile  
  
She looked into the mirror while binding the bow tie of her scholluniform.  
Who are you?  
"I am Rei Ayanami."  
What are you doing?  
"Living."  
Why are you living?  
"I... I don´t know..."  
  
  
***  
  
  
Mountain Fugotoyama  
  
In the distant city of Tokio-3 all lights went out at the same second.  
  
Shinji Ikari closed his eyes and draw a deep breath. It had started...  
  
He sat on the metal catwalk on top of the provisorical cage that kept EVA-01 in position.  
To his right was the colossal head of the purple-green EVANGELION, his EVANGELION.  
  
His EVANGELION... No, this was wrong, he feared unit-01, it followed him sometimes even  
into his dreams. And still he had to climb into the entryplug and battle the angels with  
the mecha...  
  
His eyes wandered to the side.  
  
Divided from him by a chasm sat Rei Ayanami, pilot of unit-00 on a similar catwalk that   
belonged to a similar cage holding the orange-white other EVANGELION.  
She didn´t looked at him, looking straight forward, arms put around her knees, looking  
lost but determined.  
  
"We could die tonight..." he wispered. He didn´t called her courage his own and most  
probable she knew this. He had spoken very lowly but she seemed to have heard him, because  
she answered.  
  
"Why do you say this?"  
  
"Doesn´t it matter for you, what could happen?"  
  
"It is my purpose to pilot EVA-00."  
  
"Yes, but why are you doing it?"  
  
She looked at him for a second before returning her gaze to the distant town.  
He was surprised not to see despise, he had feared, but sorrow, and he asked himself if  
she might feel as lonely as he felt himself.  
"Because of my connection."  
  
Shinji was surprised.  
"Connection? To my father?"  
  
"No. To all humans."  
  
"To all... You have inner strenght, Ayanami, you are must stronger than I will ever be."  
  
"I have nothing else."  
  
Her monotonous voice send a shiver down his spine.  
"Nothing else?" he repeated, a large dry spot within his throat forming.  
  
She stood up.  
"It´s time."  
  
"Yes."  
  
He got to his feet, too.  
  
Both went to their entryplugs.  
  
Rei stopped at the entry to her plug.  
"You won´t die... I will protect you."  
  
Shinji swallowed dryly. He knew that her words were honest.  
"Ayanami..."  
  
"Goodbye..."  
  
Her words provoked an iron clamp squizing about his heart...  
  
  
***  
  
  
Midnight:  
  
"Shinji, Rei?"  
  
"Yes, Misato?" - "Yes, Captain Katsuragi?"  
  
"It´s short befort twelfe. The operation starts. Shinji, we are giving you the full energy  
of Japan."  
  
"Ready."  
His voice betrayed his unsecurity and fear.  
  
The assaultrifle was ready, EVA-01 kneed behind the weapon, finger at the trigger.  
Before unit-01 stood EVA-00, both hands at the provisorical shield made from a space shuttle´s   
downside.  
  
Inside the entryplug Shinji watched the monitors which showed the increase of energy.  
More and more energy was cancelled into the rifle.  
He closed the targetting visor.  
  
His heart seemed to beat much faster than normal when he saw the angel zoomed up and close.  
  
They had given the angel the codename Ramiel, it had the form of an oktaeder in black  
and white. It was slowly drilling into the geofront, breaking through armorlayer for  
armorlayer.  
  
Ramiel had him nearly killed...  
  
Once again he faced the memory, saw through his EVA´s eyes the beam of destructive energy  
coming for him, thought to feel the impact, thought to be cooked alive in the heating  
LCL. And then there was only darkness.   
  
His heart had stopped beating...  
  
With shocks they had brought him back, he had awaken in the medical ward, starring at a  
ceiling he had started to hate.  
And they had ordered him to pilot EVA-01 again, to fight Ramiel a second time.  
  
He had refused...  
  
Still he could feel the expression in Rei´s eyes when she looked at him, while telling  
him that he should leave then. She had believed him a coward...  
  
And he was a coward...  
But he didn´t want to be one in her eyes without knowing the reason for this wish.  
When he had arrived in Tokio-3 just a few weeks before he had been sure that it didn´t  
matter for him if he lived or died, but suddenly he was afraid of the death.  
  
He was afraid of unit-01, hadn´t wanted to pilot the EVANGELION ever again, but now he  
sat again in the pilotseat, hands on the controls.  
  
And all of this to make her not thinking of him as a coward any longer...  
  
Four days ago he had turned fifteen, there hadn´t been a party, no congratutations from  
the other children in his class who hadn´t known. Only Misato had congratulated him this  
morning - and Rei who had seemed to be waiting for him at the school´s gate...  
  
And because of this he was now here...  
  
He activated the comlink, opening a visual connection to unit-00 to tell her, to use this  
maybe last opportunity.  
"Ayanami?"   
  
"Yes, Ikari?"  
  
It was forgotten what had wanted to tell her, his courage was lost, he only asked:  
"Are you ready?"  
  
"Yes."  
  
The clock showed midnight. The rifle had enough energy.  
  
He aimed.  
  
The targetting visor helped him to make the nessescary corrections to bring the angel  
into the center.  
"Fire", Shinji whispered and pulled the trigger. A bright beam ran towards the angel.  
  
At the same moment Ramiel reacted, maybe it had discovered it´s enemies before but had  
ignored them as long as they had posed no danger, maybe it had some very good reflexes.  
It fired it´s own energy beam at the hill where the EVAs were stationed.  
  
Both beams met above Tokio-3, changing each others´ paths.  
  
"Missed..." Shinji hissed and followed the instructions he was given via radio to prepare  
the next shot. For a moment the angel was replaced by his father´s face in his imagination.  
  
Again the angel fired.  
  
EVA-00 brought the shield into position, the beam hit the ceramic layers, started to melt  
them away.  
  
Shinji looked at the chonometer, compared the countdowns. One showed him the remaining  
time until the rifle was ready again, the other showed him that the shield wouldn´t hold  
for this time, that two second would be missing in the end.  
Two seconds...  
  
The channel to unit-00 was still open.  
"Ayamani, when the shield is gone, throw it away and run!"  
Suddenly it didn´t mattered for him anymore that he would be unprotected if she followed his   
suggestion, that he probable wouldn´t come to see the next sunrise anymore. She was so much   
more couragous than he was, she had to live...  
  
"No."  
The shield desintegrated. EVA-00 stood up, shielding EVA-01 from the beam with it´s own  
body.  
"I will protect... aarrghhhh!"  
  
The connection was interrupted.  
  
"Ayanami!" Shinji screamed.  
  
"Rifle is ready!" he heard Misato´s voice. She was nervous, but not as nervous as the boy  
within the entryplug.  
  
Shinji didn´t have to aim, he knew exactly, where the angel was, was nearly able to feel  
it´s presence, pulled the trigger...  
  
The following explosion showed him that he had hit, that Ramiel was destroyed, but he  
didn´t care, his fellow pilot was more important.  
  
"Ayanami!" again he screamed her name, hoping for an answer.  
No connection...  
EVA-00 was on the ground next to unit-01, not moving, the chessplate completly melted.  
"Damned..."  
He grabbed the piece of armor that sealed the entryplug, ripped it out of unit-00´s neck.  
  
The other entryplug left the spine of unit-00, spraying hot LCL.  
  
He made EVA-01 grab the plug and place it softly on the ground, evacuated his own plug  
manually.  
He couldn´t remember exactly how he had climbed down the backside of unit-01, the next  
clear memory was the pain in his hands as he used the hot emergence wheel of the entrydoor  
to gain entrance to her plug, as the heat was eating through his plugsuit and into his  
hands.  
The pain didn´t mattered, Ayanami was more important...  
With clenched teeth he pulled the door open, entered Rei´s entryplug.  
  
The bluehaired girl laid unmoving in the pilotseat, eyes closed, the face a mask of pain.  
  
"Ayanami!"  
  
The next second he was by her side.  
  
She wasn´t breathing...  
  
"Ayanami! No!" he screamed again, touched the side of her neck, searching for the artery.  
  
Her heart wasn´t beating...  
  
For a moment he starred at her with wide-open eyes, than he forced himself to remember  
the First-Aid-crashcourse he had to participate in last year.  
"Check beathing ways... free... Heartmassage... How... what if I break her rips... I have  
to touch her... She will die if I run away... Now... Ayanami, don´t die... you can´t die...   
What shall I do alone... without you... without your courage?... nothing... no reaction...  
no move... mouth-to-mouth-resurrection... I... I am sorry, Ayanami, it has to be..."  
  
Again he felt the urge to run away, if he was fast, he might be gone before Misato and the   
others would be there, surely they were able to do more for Ayanami that he was... no...  
if he run away she would be dead. And her blood would be on his hands. She mustn´t die,  
how - where should he find the courage he himself was missing?  
  
Again and again he pressed his hand on her chest, ignoring what he was touching. Again  
and again he pressed his lips on hers, breathing his breath into her lungs.  
  
"Ayanami, stay... please... don´t leave... stay with me..." he wispered.  
  
A tremble went through her body.  
  
He jumped back, prevented being hit as she moved forward and spat LCL mixed with green  
stomach fluids. She let herself fall backwards.  
  
"Ayanami..."  
Tears were in his eyes.  
  
She looked at him, weary and tired.  
"I was..."  
  
"Ayanami, please, don´t say again: ´I have nothing else´, please, never say again ´Goodbye´   
when we march into battle... it is too sad..." the words he hadn´t been able to say before   
the attack were just springing from his mouth.  
  
"Why..." she wispered, "why are you crying? I´m sorry..."  
  
´You don´t have to be sorry´, he wanted to shout, ´had I acted faster this morning we  
wouldn´t be here now.´ But he didn´t.  
"Ayanami, I am crying because you are alive... it´s happiness... I was afraid of losing  
you..."  
  
"Afraid? You were afraid because of me? Why?"  
She coffed up some LCL.  
  
"Because... because I cared... because I couldn´t..."  
  
"I... I don´t know how to react in such a situation..."  
  
"I think, you should smile..."  
He couldn´t think of something better.  
  
She blinked.  
  
"Come, I help you getting up, a doctor should check you as soon as possible."  
He reached out for her.  
  
She took the hand, let him help her.  
  
Their eyes met each other.  
  
She had red eyes, scarlet eyes, beautiful, perfect eyes...  
  
And she smiled. He knew, she smile for him...  
In this moment he would have place his heart at her feet if she would have only mentioned  
it...  
  
  
***  
  
  
She looked into the mirror while moving with the fingertips across her face.  
Who are you?  
"That´s me, I am Rei Ayanami."  
What are you doing?  
"I am living."  
Why are you living?  
"To pilot EVA-00"  
Why are you living?  
"To battle the angels."  
Is that all?  
"..."  
  
  
***  
  
  
An a near hilltop a lonely figure stood, an european with snowwhite hair and icegrey  
eyes, clothed in a long grey coat, and looked into the night.  
Despite the darkness he had been able to see every single detail of the battle, directly  
in front of him a semi-transparent sphere was floating, showing him the remains of the  
angel.  
  
A white raven landed on his shoulder with a low croak. The man in grey looked up, a motion   
of his hand caused the scrying sphere to vanish.  
  
"What did you learn, Tymael?" he asked with scratchy voice.  
  
The raven gave some croaks.  
  
He nodded.  
"So it is true, this creature is from the deep umbra... lets return to the temple of the   
Brotherhood."  
  
  
***  
  
  
NERV, Ikari´s bureau:  
  
"Captain Katsuragi, you wanted to talk to me?"  
Gendo Ikari looked up from his notices. In front of his desk Captain Misato Katsuragi,  
tactical commander, and Doctor Ritsuko Akagi, chief-scientist of the EVANGELION-Project.  
"And Doctor Akagi... How can I help you?"  
  
"We are here because of the First Children", Misato started.  
  
"To my knowledge Rei didn´t suffer any long-term damages."  
  
"That´s right, Sir, alas she won´t be able to pilot for the next days, even considering  
her excellent konstitution the doctors think she will need a reconvalescence of at least  
two weeks."  
  
"And?"  
  
"I want to asked again for her to move in with me."  
  
"Captain..."  
  
"I know your arguments, commander, but I have seen Rei´s apartment, it´s no place for   
recovery."  
  
"She will stay in the medical ward until the doctors think she´s ready again."  
  
"Sir, I..."  
  
"I do not want to discuss this, Captain", Ikari said sharply.  
  
"Commander", Ritsuko interrupted, "I also think that Rei will recover faster and better  
in company of others who can give her a helping hand. A little change won´t hurt her.  
As the captain told me some days ago your son is quite a good cook - and we know both that   
the cantina-food, that´s also served in the medical ward, has some... weaknesses... hasn´t   
it?"  
  
"Doctor Akagi, are you sure that Rei´s efficiency will return faster if she stays with   
Captain Katsuragi?"  
  
"Yes, Sir."  
  
"Hm... well, Captain, you can take her with you. I will give orders to have Rei´s stuff  
brought to your apartment."  
  
"Thanks, Commander."  
  
Misato and Ritsuko left the bureau, turning toward the next elevator.  
  
"Why did I let you talk me into this", Ritsuko sighted. "We both know that this can have   
a terrible ending..."  
  
Misato grinned.  
"Before we entered his room you were quite enthusiatic."  
  
"Yes. And than I remember who will be in charge for poor Rei."  
  
"Hey..."  
  
"Okay, okay, maybe there will even be a success. Shinji seems to get along with her."  
  
"They are similar."  
  
"But you are moving on thin ice. If anything happens..."  
  
"Then I will loose more than my rank, I know. Ritsuko, thanks you for the support."  
  
"Well, in rememberance of the old times... no problem. Maybe our two hedgehogs will become  
a bit more social when having some time together."  
  
"Exactly my plan."  
  
"It could do her synch-rate good... the EVAs react to emotions."  
  
"You told me this already."  
Misato pulled her cellphone out of her bag.  
  
"What are you doing?"  
  
"Calling Shinji, he will have to move some stuff from one room into the other so we will  
have the space for Rei."  
  
"Hm... let me do you a favor: I will give orders to the headquarter´s quartermaster  
to deliever some pieces of furniture to your apartment. Surely you haven´t thought yet  
that Rei will need a bed for example."  
  
"Oh, no... thanks again, Ritsuko."  
  
"I am doing this more in her interest, you might be able to put both of your wards into   
the same bed."  
  
Misato starred at Ritsuko, wanted to say something for her defense, saw that the corners  
of her mouth were twitching.  
"Be happy that we are already friends for such a long time..."  
Both women started to laugh.  
  
  
***  
  
  
Rei stood in front of the mirror in the bathroom next to her room in the hospital.  
  
"You should smile..." she wispered, remembering Shinji, outreaching for her.  
  
She had smiled, had smiled for him...  
  
"Why did I smile... Because he wanted me to do? To fulfill his wish? Yes... and no...  
both... He has cried for me... I was afraid to have hurted him... he has been afraid for  
me... he cares for me... He hurt his hands... exactly like the Commander... a coward  
wouldn´t have done something like this... He cares for me, nobody else cares for me,   
except the Commander, but he doesn´t see me but her and his scenario... He has saved my  
life... my life is more important for him than his own...?"  
  
She touched her lips with her fingerlips.  
  
"He gave me his breath... has he done this because we are comrades in arms or because...  
because he likes me? ... because I mean something for him? He said: Don´t go... Why?"  
  
She did a step back, leaning against the wall behind her.  
"Do I mean something for him? I want to know it... and maybe... maybe I will smile for him  
again..." 


	3. Chapter 02 - The sorrows of Young Ikari

Chapter 02 - The sorrows of Young Ikari  
  
  
Misato´s Apartment:  
  
Shinji sat at the small desk below his room´s window, ear-phones pluged into and doing  
homework.  
  
On the bed next to the desk laid a two-finger-thick batch of paper, mostly to read. The  
old teacher seemed to give out homework always when the larger part of his pupils was  
missing from school.  
  
He had already done the English homework and was fighting now with physics. Physics has  
never been has subject of choice, it was enough for him to know that object tended to  
fall down, not why.  
  
The bell rung.  
  
Shinji was no friend of loud music, the ear-plugs were more a tool to create a barriere  
between himself and the rest of the world, a barriere the bell cut through without  
efforts.  
  
He sighted, put the homework aside and got up. Was this the surprise Misato had talked  
about at the phone? He didn´t like surprises, for his taste they were to often associated  
with a certain purple-green mecha called unit one.  
  
He dragged his feet towards the door, opened it using only the fingertips. His hands  
were still bandaged and hurt, but it got better slowly and the doctor had told him that  
he wouldn´t have to wear gloves like his father.  
  
Two men stood in the staircase with several crates.  
  
"Yes?" the boy asked cautiously.  
  
"Is this..." one of the men, the older one, looked at his notes, "the Katsuragi residence?"  
  
"Ja."  
  
"Good, we have a delivery from the NERV-quartermaster, where can we put the stuff down?"  
  
He didn´t have a clue about what was in the crates, if this was Misato´s surprise it  
wasn´t a problem for him - EVA-01 definitly couldn´t be inside the crates.  
  
"Eh, the left room at the end of the corridor."  
He pointed at the door of said room where Misato had been used to put into all the stuff  
she couldn´t place anywhere else, like the crates she had her stuff in when she came to  
Tokio-3. Most of these he had brought into the small room in the basement that had been  
rented with the apartment.  
  
The two men got the strange crates and a large cardboard box int othe room, had the  
delivery papers signed and Shinji show his NERV-ID-card.  
  
He closed the door behind them and walked into the room that was opposite to his own.  
The box stood in the miidle of the room, the crates at the walls.  
  
"Hm, what might this be? In this one, in the corner, could be a bed and that one..."  
He shook his head.  
"Sure, as if we would need more furniture..."  
He returned into his room, back to his SDAT-player and the homework...  
  
  
***  
  
  
"I am baaack!" Misato shouted when she entered the apartment.  
  
Shinja was in the kitchen, preparing supper.  
"Supper is finished soon", he answered without turning.  
  
She turned around and beckoned at her companion.  
"Come in, not so shy, since you will stay here for the next days."  
  
Rei looked at her questioning, than she also crossed the door-step.  
"Yes, Captain."  
  
"Ah, you can call me Misato, we are not on duty."  
  
"Yes, Cap..."  
  
Misato lifted a brow.  
  
"... Misato."  
Rei took off her shoes.  
  
"Well... - Shinji?"  
  
The boy removes the ear-plugs.  
"Yes?"  
  
"Has the stuff already arrived?"  
  
"Crates and a box? - Yes."  
  
"Good. What are cocking? It smells delicious."  
  
"Noodles, vegetables... what was in the fridge."  
  
"Ah."  
Misato entered the kitchen and checked on her beerdepot, nodded happily and took a can.  
"We have a guest."  
  
"What? Who?"  
Curious he turned around.  
  
Rei stood in the doorway between corridor and kitchen with expressionless face.  
  
"Oh, Ayamani", he said surprised.  
  
"Hello, Ikari."  
She looked him up and down, asking herself for a moment if she should say something  
about the pink apron he was wearing or about the meal he was cooking.  
  
"Uhm, did they let you leave the hospital today?"  
  
"Yes."  
  
"Shinji, Rei will stay here with us for the next days to recover. Do you think that we  
have anything that might be needed?"  
  
"Ah... she will stay? Uhm... I will have to go shopping..."  
There it was again, the urge to run away when confronted with a new situation.  
  
"But not today. - Come, Rei, I show you your room."  
  
"Yes, Cap... Misato."  
  
Shinji looked after them, remembering the meal than and turning toward the stove again.  
"She will stay..."  
He wasn´t sure if he should be happy or cowering in panic.  
  
  
***  
  
  
Rei sat silently at the kitchen table while Misato already had finished her third beer.  
Shinji placed the bowls with the steaming meal in the middle of the table, knocked  
against the door of the second fridge and sat down at the table.  
  
For a moment there was silence, than Misato grabbed the first bowl and placed it right  
before Rei´s nose.  
"Take as much as you like."  
  
"Yes."  
  
The frigde´s door was opened from inside and PenPen came out.  
"Wark!"  
  
"Ha, come here!" Misato shouted happily. "Rei, that´s PenPen."  
  
"A hotwaterpenguin", the bluehaired girl lectures as if this was a most commen thing on  
earth, well maybe it was for her.  
  
"Wark!" the Penguin greeted her before sitting down at the free place at the table and  
pushing his eating bowl toward Shinji for filling.  
  
"Yes, since we are all here - Good eating!" Misato shouted, emptying the next can of beer  
in one draw and grabbing the next with the free hand.  
  
Rei poked her meal. Shinji watched her for a while, asking himself if she didn´t like his  
cooking or if he might have cooked badly.  
"Ayanami, is anything wrong?"  
  
"No... no, I eat no flesh."  
  
"Ah... I didn´t know. I´m sorry."  
  
"You don´t have to, as you said, you didn´t know."  
  
"But I will remember - that is, if you will stay for longer."  
  
"I was ordered to recover from the battle with Ramiel."  
  
"Ordered?"  
  
"Yes, by the Commander."  
  
"Father... how can you order somebody to get better?!"  
  
"..."  
  
"Uhm... here, take from the vegetables, there is no flesh within."  
  
Silent she took the bowl.  
  
Again nobody spoke, only PenPen´s champing and Misato´s beer-guzzling were heard.  
  
"You cook good", Rei said suddenly.  
  
Shinji turned red.  
"Th-thank you, uhm... but I guess you can cook good, too."  
  
"No."  
  
"No? Ah... but you are a..."  
Girl, he had wanted to say, but then he had remembered that Misato was of the same gender  
- and she was able to burn water.  
  
"I´ve never learnt."  
  
"Hm... uhm... I could show you. I mean, some of the easier things... but only, if you  
want me to..."  
Again the stream of words was out of his controll.  
  
"I would like it."  
  
"Ui, you Casa... Casa... Casanova..." Misato laughed drunkenly and tapped his shoulder.  
  
Shinji´s face turned even redder, he felt quite ashamed, looked at Rei beseeching.  
"Don´t listen to her."  
  
"Captain Katsuragi is drunken", she lectured.  
  
"Wark!" the Penguin agreed - and emptied his own can of beer.  
  
"Ah am not djun... drun... djanken!" Misato protested. "Ah... maybe a bit... but not  
djunken, yesh? Really good cocking, Shinshi."  
  
"Ah..."  
Under the table he clenched and unclenched his fist.  
  
"Shinschi, could shou be sho nish and help Rei with her stuff? In the cratsh ish shome  
furnishure... shey are already at sche right plash. Shou two will get it right..."  
And so Misato vanished into her bedroom, not to be seen again until the next morning.  
  
Shinji looked at Rei sorryful.  
"Normally... She must have a lot of stress... ah..."  
His trying to play Misatos behavior down sounded not even in his own ears convincing.  
  
"It is alright."  
  
"Well... uhm... it´s nice to have you here."  
  
She blinked.  
"Why are you saying this?"  
  
"Because... well... I... uhm... I think it is nice to you around."  
  
"Really?"  
  
"Yes."  
  
"Noone said something like this to me ever."  
  
"Noone? And your parents?"  
  
She looked down at the floor.  
"I have no parents."  
  
"I... ah... I´m sorry..."  
He remembered Ritsuko telling him that Rei´s parents died while she still a baby.  
Hurrying he removed the plates and glasses and carried them to the sink, searching for  
words feverishly.  
  
"It is no problem."  
  
"Thank you. Well... Uhm, lets look what they brought for you."  
He was happy for her dropping the subject.  
  
"Yes."  
  
  
***  
  
  
The crates did really contain the furniture he had already suspected.  
After they had found out the system to open the crates without a crowbar they had most  
of it out of the crates soon.  
  
"Ayanami, it´s late... and until we have everything done... lets finish tomorrow, yes?  
You can sleep in my room."  
  
She looked at him.  
  
He raised the hands, remembered the accident in her apartment.  
"Ah... of course I will sleep on the couch in the living room... not to make you think  
I would... uhm..."  
  
"I trust you."  
  
He looked at her with surprise. It was the first time that somebody told him something  
like this. Had she forgotten what a coward he was? Could she - Was she allowed to - trust  
a coward?  
"Yes?"  
  
"Of course. Don´t you trust me?"  
  
"I do." he answered softly. "How could I not place my trust in you after what you have  
done?"  
  
  
***  
  
  
Carefully Rei sat down on Shinji´s bed and looked around.  
  
On the desk were some papers, she looked at the top one.  
  
"Physics... wrong way of calculation... much to fussy..." she mumbled while looking at  
Shinji´s solution of the homework.  
  
In the corner stood a basket for used clothing, over the edge laid one of Shinji´s  
shirts.  
  
Rei looked at the clock on the desk´s edge. It was truely late.  
She took off her clothes, placed them on the chair and slipped under the sheets.  
  
"The pillow... it smells like Ikari... like his hair..."  
  
She closed her eyes.  
  
"Why am I here? Because I was ordered to come. Because I shall recover. I don´t need  
any special rest, so why was I ordered to come? And I knew that the order was unnessary,  
why am I here?"  
  
  
***  
  
  
Shinji laid on the couch under a light sheet, unable to sleep, always drifting into and  
out of a semiwaken state.  
  
He missed his SDAT-player, it was in his room. And he couldn´t go and get it because of  
Rei sleeping there.  
  
Restless he turned to the other side, finding finally some rest.  
  
  
***  
  
  
Rei was woken up by the alarm-clock.  
At first she felt desoriented, then she remembered where she was. She got up, turning  
the alarm off.  
  
In her own apartment she would have gone to the bathroom now, in the last moment, hand  
already at the doorknob, she remembered, that she wasn´t the only person within the  
apartment´s walls. She looked around, disovered the shirt in the basket, put it on and  
came to the conclusion of wearing enough clothes for the moment. Then she left the room.  
  
It smelled like breakfast.  
  
Barefooted she went into the kitchen.  
  
Shinji was already up and cooking, he didn´t see her coming.  
  
"Good morning, Ikari."  
  
The boy twitched.  
"Ah..."  
He turned around, knife in hand, put it fast aside.  
"Good morning, Ayanami..."  
He saw her, wearing only one of his shirts that only be chance covered parts of her legs,  
turned red and turned around.  
"I... uhm... I hope you had a good rest."  
  
"Yes, I feel refreshed."  
  
"That´s good."  
He was quite busy to keep his eyes on the vegatables he was preparing instead looking at  
her and starring at her, or better, at her body. It was hard, a part of him thought about  
the incident at her apartment, but another part, the combination of reasoning and fear  
kept the upperhand, keeping him from doing something stupid.  
  
"Is it okay that I wear your shirt?"  
  
"Ah... of course... uhm, you look better in it than I do..."  
  
"Yes...? What are you cooking?"  
  
"Lunch... Bento... for school..."  
  
She saw that he had prepared quite a lot, saw also the two boxes on the workspace.  
"For yourself and..."  
  
"Ah, I thought... I counld also prepare something for you... while I was already here  
and worked... Look, all vegetarian, no flesh, no fish..."  
  
She looked at him with surprise.  
"You are doing this for me? Why?"  
  
"Uhm... because I wanted to... ah... because it seemed to be the right thing..."  
  
"That´s... nice, Ikari... Thank you..."  
  
He swallowed, looked her in the eyes.  
"It is no problem. I will go now and wake up Misato... if you want to use the bath before..."  
  
"Yes. And what about you?"  
  
"After breakfast. I´m not quite finished."  
  
"You do this every day?"  
  
He smiled a crocked smile and pointed at the plan.  
"Nearly every day."  
  
"Oh..."  
  
"You get used to it."  
  
"Yes..."  
  
He took a deep breath, collecting all his courage.  
"Uhm, Ayanami..."  
  
"„Ikari?"  
  
"Could you... do me a favor?"  
  
"What?"  
  
"Please don´t call me Ikari anymore... my friends call me Shinji, Shinji is completly  
enough."  
  
She nodded.  
"If you wish..."  
  
"Thanks, Ayanami."  
He felt a weight lifted from his heart.  
  
"Rei."  
  
"What?"  
  
"You can call me Rei. Are we... friends?"  
  
"Uhm... ah... I would like it this way..."  
  
"Good... friends..."  
She turned around and went into the bathroom.  
  
Shinji leaned against the table, wipping the sweat from his brow.  
So he stood for a while before starting to work again, not seeing that Rei left the  
bathroom some minutes later, wearing only a towel, and vanished into her room to get  
some clothes out of the box - he would have fallen over unconsciousness if he had.  
  
  
***  
  
  
Misato started the day quite unhappy until she got her first beer of the day.  
  
For a moment Shinji felt Rei´s questioning look, Misato´s behavior seemed to make even  
Rei a bit nervous. He just shrugged, knowing that Misato seemed to need a certain  
amount of alcohol within her blood to be ready to face a new day.  
  
"And, Rei, how was your first night?" Misato asked after putting the can down.  
  
"I feel refreshed after sleeping in Ika... Shinji´s bed."  
  
Misato opened her eyes as far as possible. Shinji was nearly able to hear her thoughts.  
"Shinji..." she gasped. "I never..."  
  
He turned red again, raising his hands defensivly.  
"No, Misato, ah, it was not as you are thinking. I´ve slept on the couch."  
  
"What?" She calmed down again. "Ha, you shouldn´t startle an old woman like me this way.  
Ah, I remember know, we haven´t unpacked the furniture, yet."  
  
Shinji grumbled.  
"Rei and I did the unpacking already, we just have to put them up."  
  
"Well, when you come from school this afternoon you can finish, I am on duty."  
  
Shinji looked at the plan and knew what this meant - today he would have to do her chores  
again.  
  
"But I managed that you have enough time - you won´t have to participate at physical   
education. Well... - Shinji, how are your hands?"  
  
"They don´t hurt anymore."  
He showed her his hand, the medicine of the 21. century had quitly fastened the healing.  
  
"Good. - Rei, you should know that he was nearly unable to hold anything during the last  
days."  
  
"Yes."  
  
"Well, okay, I have to get ready. Have fun at school, yes?"   
  
So they left. 


	4. Chapter 03 - A day at school

Chapter 03: A day at school  
  
  
Shinji´s gaze wandered aside. Rei was walking to his left, eyes straight forward.  
He thought that she was quite attractive, couldn´t suppress these thoughts, not after  
the incident at her apartment before the coming of Ramiel. If he wouldn´t be such a  
coward he probably would have asked her for a date already... He had touched her lips, but  
this such no memory of pleasure, it had been no kiss but a desperate try to safe her life.  
He guessed that she had no memory about this moment because of her not talking about that  
point.  
In his eyes she was an enigma, a beautiful secret.  
If he were more like Touji... no, in this case he probably wouldn´t had any chance with  
her... but... did he have any?  
  
"Rei, how are you?"  
  
"Well. Why do you ask?"  
  
"I´m interested in your wellbeing."  
  
"Why?"  
  
"Because..."  
  
"Are you interested in me the way the Captain or Doctor Akagi is interested in me... or  
the Commander? If I am... efficient?"  
  
"Like father...? No. You´ve said yourself that we are friends... and, uhm, friends care  
for each other. And I believe that, ah, Misato also cares for you."  
  
"You are talking very much today."  
  
"Sorry."  
  
"No, don´t. It is just... just a new thing for me, I have never had friends before."  
  
"Never?"  
  
"No, never."  
  
"Uhm, Ayana... Rei, I think that a lot of the children in our class would like to be your  
friends if they just had a chance to get to know you."  
  
"Really? Why?"  
  
"Well, uhm, you are clever, smart, couragous... beauti... ah... ful... and you have a  
very nice smile."  
  
She stopped abruptly, her cheeks turned slightly red.  
  
Shinji noticed her not being at his side anymore, turned around.  
"Aya... Rei?"  
  
"Why were you telling me this?"  
  
"Because... because that´s what I think of you."  
  
"You really think that I am... attractive?"  
  
His throat was dry. But it was said...  
"Uhm... yes..."  
  
She blinked.  
"Thank you."  
  
"I... uh... not at all."  
  
"That was a compliment, wasn´t it?"  
  
"I... ah... yes."  
  
"And after recieving a compliment one should smile, right?"  
  
"... yes."  
  
She smiled, it was a clumsy smile, but beautiful non the less.  
  
"You have a very nice smile", he repeated.  
  
"Thank you... now... lets go, or we will late."  
  
  
***  
  
  
"Thank you... I said thank you, not once but twice... a wort of gratitude, I have never  
said it in this way before... And I said it to him... It was so... natural..."  
  
  
***  
  
  
When Shinji entered the classroom he was intercepted by Touji and Kensuke.  
  
"Hey, Shinji!"  
  
"Ikari, you old dog!"  
  
"Uhm, what´s up?"  
He was confused.  
  
Rei passed them and walked to her place by the window.  
  
"Ha! We saw you coming with Ayanami..."  
  
"And, Touji?"  
  
"Well, you are such a lucky guy, living with Misato-san and walking to school with Ayanami!   
I wish I was that lucky! Ayanami maybe a little strange but she looks very good!"  
  
*whack*  
"Suzuhara, this is no acceptable way to speak about a fellow pupil", another person interrupted   
and flattened the papers she had hit him with at the back of his head.  
  
"Yes, class-representive."  
The broad grin wad gone from Touji´s face. He rubbed the spot he had been hit.  
  
Shinji used the opportunity to get to his table.  
"Puh..."  
Without intention he looked at Rei.  
  
She was watching him, instead of looking out of the window. And without long thinking  
about her actions she grabbed her bag, got up, walked toward him and sat down at the free  
table to his left.  
  
He was surprised.  
  
Touji´s mouth opened.  
  
Kensuke started cleaning his glasses.  
  
Hikari smiled, told the two stooges than to go to their table since the teacher was arriving.  
  
  
***  
  
  
The lesson seemed to be endless, the old teacher repeated once again his version of the  
Second Impact while looking out of the window, non caring for the class. The classroom  
could have empty - the Sensei still would have run down his monologue.  
  
Touji yawned and slowly sunk down on his desk, placing his head on his arms.  
  
Shinji looked at his laptop where a red light had started blinking. He had gotten a mail.  
Since it was a closed system the mail could only have been send by one of the other children   
in the class. He opened the mail.  
  
So, what´s up between Ayanami and you?  
  
Shinji looked around, already guessing who had send him the message.  
  
Kensuke grined.  
  
Nothing.  
  
Really?  
  
She has just moved in at Misato´s place.  
  
*rums*  
  
The teacher interupted his monologue, searching confused for the source of the *rums*.  
"Aida, what are you doing on the floor?"  
  
Kensuke used the desk to get back into his seat, rubbing his forehand where he had met   
with the table´s edge.  
"Sorry, Sensei, a carelessness."  
  
"Hm, good, sit down again, but don´t disturb again."  
  
"Yes, Sensei."  
  
Shinji supprested a grin. Again the ´You´ve got mail´-sign appeared on his desktop.  
  
You lucky dog! Piloting an EVANGELION and not only share an apartment with Misato but  
now with Ayanami, too!  
  
It´s nothing. he answered and ignored the further messages.  
But was it truely nothing?  
  
  
***  
  
  
During lunchbreak Shinji handed Rei the box he had prepared for her this morning.  
  
"Ah, and he even cooks for her!" shouted Touji after watching this. "Kensuke, I fear,  
we´ve lost Shinji."  
  
"Yes, poor Shinji, I knew him well."  
  
*whack*  
  
*whack*  
  
"Suzuhara, Aida, this is no acceptable behavior!"  
  
"Yes, class-representive."  
  
On the bench, where Shinji and Rei were sitting, she looked at the boy.  
"What´s going on there on the other side of the yard?"  
  
"I don´t know... are you taking about Touji and Hikari?"  
  
"Yes, Suzuhara, Aida and Horaki."  
  
"Ach... hm, I guess, Hikari does like Touji a little bit."  
  
"And that´s the reason she´s beating him with a newspaper?"  
  
"I... ah... hm..."  
  
"Does this mean, I will have to beat you, too?"  
  
"Rei, no please..."  
He looked at her with terror. There something in her eyes, something new. He understood.  
"That was a... joke, wasn´t it?"  
  
"Yes. I would never hurt you."  
  
"Rei..."  
Her eyes nearly pulled him magically towards her, he wanted to reach out, pulling her towards   
him, kissing her lips...  
  
"..."  
  
"..."  
  
"...what´s up?"  
  
He interupted the eye-contact, turning red,  
"Nothing."  
  
She opened the box, started to eat, stopped.  
"That´s good!"  
  
"Thank you."  
  
"No, really... It´s not correkt, that I can´t cook anything after living alone as long as  
I can remember, but this is delicious."  
  
"Rei..."  
He smiled because of the many words from her and the unusual look on her face.  
"Wunderful, that you like it. If you wish I will cook for you regularly."  
  
"You would do this?"  
  
"For a friend, yes."  
  
"But this means additional work for you."  
  
"That depends on for who you are doing it."  
  
"Yes?"  
  
"Yes... you are someone very special..."  
The next moment he could have bit his tougue. Normally he had himself better under control  
but within her presence most of his sorrows were forgotten.  
  
"Do you think so?" she asked softly. "I true mean something for you..."  
  
He couldn´t find the right words to answer.  
  
In a short softly touch her finger were place upon his hand.  
"Thank you."  
  
All round them other pupils were fleeing or simply falling over unconsciously, when she  
moved her head a bit to the side and smiled. Shinji himself fought a case of nosebleeding,  
she looked so damned good...  
  
"Kensuke, we have to rescue Shinji!"  
  
"Yes, Touji, this can´t be Ayanami! Maybe the enemy got her, or she has been kidapped by  
aliens and exchanged for one for their own, or..."  
  
*whack*  
  
*whack*  
  
"You will leave the two along, clear?!"  
  
"Yes, class-representive."  
  
  
***  
  
  
The rest of the day went over fast, Shinji called back the picture of Rei smiling into  
his memory again and again. At the end of the day the two went home fast to put the  
finishing touches on the furniture in her room.  
The remaining work was minimal, they only had to remove the crates and turn in some screws.   
And exactly then the next incident happened...  
  
One of the screws to fix the plate of the desk to the underconstruction rolled out of  
Shinji´s hand and under the bed. Shinji didn´t believed himself to be able to lift up  
the heavy bed, so he went on his knees at tried to reach for the screw.  
"Just a little more..."  
He touched the screw with his fingertips, pushed it farther away.  
"Ah..."  
  
Rei went to the end of the bed, bowed down and lifted it up using only one hand.  
  
"Ah, good, there it is..."  
He wanted to get up again, when he recognized what Rei had done, Rei didn´t look like a  
very strong person...  
"Ah..."  
  
She put the bed down, saw the look on his face as if he was watching a ghost.  
"What is?"  
  
"Uhm, nothing... just... you are stronger than you look like..." he stammered.  
  
She frowned, looked down at her hands.  
"Yes... sorry, I didn´t want to startle you."  
  
"No, no, you didn´t startle me, I am just... surprised..."  
  
"I don´t use my strenght often, Comman... your father warned me not to demonstrate to strangers   
what I am able to do."  
  
"Yes?"  
  
"But you are no stranger, so it´s okay."  
  
"Able to do? That sounds like you could do even more stuff."  
  
"Yes, for example I quite good with physics."  
There it was again, this look in her eyes.  
  
"Ah... would you... would you help me with today´s homework when we are finished here?"  
  
"Yes."  
  
The next thing to do was unpacking the large cardboard-box with her stuff.  
  
"That´s all you have?" Shinji asked, counting eight schooluniforms, a swimsuit, a second  
pair of shoes, a batch of underwear he forced himself to pay as little attention as  
possible, a small bag with toothbrush and other stuff, a NERV-uniform in light brown  
like he had one in his own closett, some schoolbook, a dark jacket and some other things.  
  
"Yes, that´s all I need."  
The last thing in the box was a beaker, filled to more than three quarters with water.  
She hesitated shortly looking at the waterlevel, and placed it on the desk.  
  
"Uhm, you surely wish to put everything in order. I have to do some chores, after these  
maybe we could have a look at the homework?!"  
  
"I am coming in a moment" she wispered without paying much attention.  
  
  
***  
  
  
"The glass is fuller than the day I left... my soul... why? Are these the experiences of  
the last days?"  
  
  
***  
  
  
When Misato came home the two teenagers were sitting at the dinertable, still doing the  
homework. While Rei did her best to explain Shinji still had problems to understand  
certain concepts.  
  
The bluehaired girl was calm and expressed as little emotions as usual, while Shinji  
seemed quite desparate.  
  
"Tadaima!"  
  
"Oh, Misato!" Shinji shouted and wanted to get up - even a bad excuse was better than no  
one - but was stopped by Rei grabbing his arm. Her touch was soft, but her strenght still  
surprised him.  
  
"Don´t run away, or you will never understand."  
  
Misato looked into the combined living- and dinnerroom.  
"Ah, here you two are. Doing homework? - Physics... Rei, are you helping Shinji?"  
  
"I do my best, but he just doesn´t understand." Rei answered and sighed. The sigh had  
the same effect as if she had started to cry.  
  
"Rei, are you okay?" Misato asked concerned.  
  
Shinji looked at her startled from the side.  
"Rei, I... I promise to do my best, okay?"  
  
She nodded.  
  
Misato blinked.  
"Well, I just wanted to change clothes."  
Her jacket and skirt were full of dark spots.  
"Ritsuko is doing one of her 48-hours-shifts again, living completly of coffee thats  
strong enough to eat the spoon - she should really stop with this, or at least pay more  
attention not to spill the stuff over other people."  
  
"Put the clothes into the basket in the bathroom, I will wash them later." Shinji said.  
  
"Yes, I know, it was my turn to cook, sorry. But I was shopping, here."  
She put down two bags next to the table.  
  
Shinji looked into the bags, one contained beer, beer, and... beer, the other one beer,  
beer and really something edible.  
  
"Oh, yes, Akagi has me tell you that she has prepared some training for you by tomorrow   
morning."  
  
"What kind of training?"  
  
"Synchrontraining for Rei, targetting practice for you, Shinji."  
  
"Oh."  
  
"You have to learn to shot without the visor´s aid. Now, don´t give me this look, I´m just  
the messager. - Ah, and Rei, if you want to, we could go shopping tomorrow afternoon."  
  
"Yes, Cap... Misato."  
  
Misato smiled and went into her room.  
  
Rei tunrded to Shinji again.  
"So, this question here..."  
  
  
***  
  
  
An hour later he finally understood.  
  
Rei felt a spark of emotion that could only be describes as pride.  
  
Shinji starred at his hoework and asked himself why he hadn´t seen the problem earlier.  
"Thank you, Rei, I think I got it."  
  
"Good."  
  
He cleared the table, placed then the beer and the food in the fridge.  
"What do you want to eat? Tell me and if the necessary stuff is in the house I will cook  
it for you."  
  
"You want to cook for me?"  
  
"Yes, I feel great."  
  
"It´s good when you feel good."  
  
"So, what shall I cook?"  
  
  
***  
  
  
"It is strange... he wants me to feel good... and I want him to feel good... I like to  
be near him... I want to be near him... why?"  
  
  
***  
  
  
A buddhistic temple at the edge of Kyoto:  
  
The monk in his yellow robes looked up when he sensed the arrival of the whitehaired man  
and stopped sweeping the templestairs.  
  
diArgio bowed slightly, the monk answered the greeting.  
"You are back, Magus."  
  
"Yes, Brother Shan."  
  
"Have Thou seen the things the oracle spoke about?"  
  
The whitehaired nodded.  
"May I enter the temple?"  
  
"Of course. You were always a honored guess of the Brotherhood."  
  
"I know, but times have changed, the sixth age has arrived..."  
  
"The impact, yes. Follow me, please..."  
The baldheaded monk turned around, walking up the stairs.  
  
diArgio hesitated for a moment before following him. When he stepped apon the stairs his  
clothes changed. The grey coat vanished, was replaced by a wide black cape. He wore a  
white shirt and dark trousers with kneehigh boots, on the chest he carried an amulett with  
the sign of a half-closed eye. For a second tiny flashed surrounded him as he passed the  
border of the temple´s circle of protection and a gust of wind caught his cape... 


	5. Chapter 04 - The silence before the stor...

Chapter 04: The silence before the storm  
  
  
Wilhelmshaven, Germany:  
  
"And you are sure that you can´t travel with us, uncle?"  
The redhaired girl looked into the face of the man next to her on the pier.  
Her name was Asuka Soryu Langley. She wore a kneelong lowcut yellow dress with long sleeves,   
red shoes, white socks and red gloves, around the neck she carried a chain with a  
little silvercross. She was fourteen years old.  
  
The man next to her wasn´t really her uncle, at least not in the blood, on the other hand  
he and his wife did care for the girl since her mother´s death. He had black hair and wore  
a dark uniform under his coat with black gloves.  
"I would like to, Asuka, but they need me here. But Major Kaji is coming with you."  
  
"Yes, but I wish you could both come to Japan, uncle Wolf."  
  
He smiled sadly.   
"As soon as I have some time I will come, promised."  
  
"You will never have enough time, I know it. The agency sends you from one end of europe  
to the other and then straight through africa."  
  
"Hm, yes... But you know that I´m proud of you."  
  
"Thanks..."  
  
Another man joined them, Ryoji Kaji.  
  
Asuka smiled at him with bright eyes.  
"Hello, Kaji!"  
  
"Hello, Asuka. - Commander."  
  
"Major."  
The man in the dark clothes greeted him with a nod.  
  
"Everything is on board, we will leave as planned."  
  
"Well, what means the time has come to say goodbay."  
He hold out his hand towards Kaji.  
"Have an eye on Asuka, Major."  
  
"I will, Sir."  
  
"And on your own cargo."  
  
"Of course."  
  
"Good... good journey."  
  
"Thanks."  
  
"Asuka?"  
  
"Yes, uncle?"  
  
"Be brave. And you think you can´t take anymore then call me, yes?"  
  
"I will."  
  
"And do not forget your training, whatever happens, you can circumvent every stone in   
your path. And hit those angels were it hurts."  
  
"I will, uncle."  
She tried hart to stay calm, but the lonely tear running down her cheek betrayed her true  
feelings.  
  
He hugged her, smiled.  
"Good luck."  
  
"Please, give aunt Ann a kiss, yes? And tell her I´m sorry for not visiting her in hospital."  
  
"I will do it, darling."  
He watched them walking up the gangway of the ´Over the Rainboy´, waved as they stood at  
the rail while the shiop left the harbor and finally turned when they were out of sight,  
allowing himself some tears.  
He was Wolf Larsen, Commander of Special Operations within the UN secret service ODIN, and  
he had just send the girl that was like a daughter to him into mortal danger...  
  
  
***  
  
  
Misato´s Apartment, Tokio-03, Japan:  
  
On the other side of the world Shinji Ikari and Rei Ayanami were sitting on the couch in  
front of the TV. Rei was reading a book while Shinji read the program magazine.  
  
"Eh, Rei..."  
  
"Hm?"  
  
"Today is the premiere of Gainax´ new animation series, Princess Maker."  
  
"What´s that?"  
  
"Don´t know... hm, after the concept of the successful computer simulation game...  
but it is by Gainax, everything they do is good. Would you like to watch the first  
episode with me?"  
  
"I don´t know."  
  
"Why?"  
  
"I don´t watch TV."  
  
"Well, you don´t have a TV-set in your apartment, do you?"  
He didn´t remember seeing a TV-set in her apartment during his visit in her apartment,  
on the other hand it was quite possibly that he was wrong.  
  
"No."  
  
"Well..."  
  
"Good, if you want."  
  
"Rei, if you don´t want to, I wouldn´t wish to force you."  
  
Again she looked at him, closed the book.  
"I think I could give it a try."  
  
"Ah... do you sit comfortalbe? Wait..."  
He got her a large pillow.  
"For your back... and..."  
He brought her the armchair.  
"... now you can put the feet up."  
  
She looked at him blinking.   
"You truely want me to feel comfortable..."  
  
"Of course."  
  
She moved a bit forward to make space for the soft pillow, stretching the legs.  
"Yes, very comfortable."  
  
"If you want a blanket..."  
  
"Shinji..."  
She looked at him softly.  
"... if I want one, I want get it."  
  
"Uhm, yes."  
He turned the TV-set on, put the remote on the low table and made himself comfortable on  
the couch.  
  
Rei moved to his side, leaning against him.  
  
"Rei, why..."  
  
"Is this... undisirable?"  
  
"... no..." he whispered lowly.  
  
  
***  
  
  
Somewhere in the Western Kingdoms, the 13. century after Aries...  
  
The village laid in ruins as if a fierce storm had paid it a visit, a broken houses were  
empty, nothing moved, neither man nor beast.  
  
Across the road, a formerly beautiful plastered street with trees on both sides, two longly   
figures were moving, one big, one small, the last one leading two horses at the reins.  
  
The larger one, a man, wore a wide black cape. His face was hidden in the shadows of his  
hood, just a silverwhite lock of hair looked out. Under the cape he wore bright traveller  
clothes consisting of leather trousers and linenshirt as well as dusty boots. His hand  
was on the grip of his ornamented sword, his eyes wandered restless, looking for hidden  
enemies.  
  
The other one carried no visible weapons. Up from the waist he was human, but his legs  
were goatlike, he was a male satyr with big eyes and ears and small horns on his forehead,  
wearing a blue jacket and short trousers of the same colour.  
  
The human gave a short sign to stop, then cowered down, touching the ground with his  
fingertips, redrawing a weak footprint of a large foot with clawnails.  
"Ogre", was the only word he said, his voice low and craspy.  
  
"Master, do you truely want to travel further into this direction? This is the third  
village we have entered without meeting any living soul. And all these destructions..."  
The voice of the satyr sounded young and nervous.  
  
"Are you afraid, Cube?"  
  
"Yes, Master Winter."  
  
"That´s okay. Fear keeps us alive. I want to know who is responsible for all of this.  
Judging the tracks an army has passed through the country, all the way from the distant  
mountains..."  
  
"If you are right, wouldn´t it be wiser to change directions?"  
  
"You can leave whenever you want, my destiny is the capital - and if I am correkt it is  
also destiny of our friends."  
  
"Yes... I will stay by your side."  
  
"As you wish, Cube. By tomorrow evening we should reach the capital."  
  
"Or what´s left..."  
  
  
The kingdom´s capital was under siege. The attacker´s ring was closed, allowing noone to  
escape from the doomed city. On the other side of the citywalls several fires were  
burning out of controll, the battlement were full of fallen defenders.  
  
The attackers were not human but creature from the deepest pits of the abyss, demons and  
their servants, halfmen and undead.  
  
The two travellers stood on a hilltop, looking down on the beleagered town and the encampment   
before it´s walls.  
  
"Master, can we leave now?"  
  
"No..."  
The man had pulled back his hood, he had fair skin and a face with sharp lines, his age  
seemed to be somewhere between thirty and forty, his eyes had the colour of fresh grey  
ice.  
"It is like my dream..."  
  
"Because of a dream you want to walk right into danger?"  
  
"I was called, Cube, I know, you don´t understand, but at this place my destiny will be  
fulfilled."  
  
"Master, I beg you... You might be a great swordfighter and a master of the mystical arts,  
but what will you do against a whole army?"  
  
He smiled.  
"Even the greatest army is nothing without it´s leader."  
  
  
Night fell.  
  
During the day the attackers had stormed the outer gates, killing the defenders they met.  
Only the inner walls were still protecting the inhabitants of the town.  
  
With the dusk the leader of the army had appeared, a redskined horned giant in black  
armor and large belt made from skulls.  
He was Luziferon, Lord of the Abyss...  
With thundering voice he challenged the defenders, for each one who met him in duel he  
would let go ten citydwellers. And should he meet defeat he would order his army to leave.  
  
And at this moment a loud *boom* went through the night as tents and siegemachines went  
up in flammes.  
Through the flames a lonely human figure walked with burning eyes.  
  
"I hope you accept my challenge", the warrior whispered  
  
The demon laughed.  
"Come, little mortal so I can crush you."  
  
The man smiled, waited for the demon to draw his flamming blade.  
  
"What are you waiting for, human? Draw your sword or run away!"  
  
The smile on his lips died, was replaced by cold determination. He reached out with his  
arm, throwing three crystal of ice into the air. The crystals whirled around, too fast  
for the humnan eye, weaving a blade made of ice. As he grabbed the blade out of the air  
the ice also encircled his arms, his chest, his legs without hindering him.  
  
The demonlord frowed.  
"The Armaments of Ice... a long time has passed since I watched this magic the last time",  
he wispered. Even his wispering voice was still loud. "Maybe you are a worthy opponent,   
after all..."  
  
The fight started. Fire met Ice, Steel met Steel.  
  
The opponents gave all, again and again the blades met. Then the man fumbled, the fiery  
blade crossed his belly, he stumbled back, pressing the free arm against the wound,  
breathing heavyly.  
  
The demon bowed grinning.  
"For a long time I have met no opponent who was that hard to kill. It was a pleasure,   
mortal one."  
  
"Yes, it was."  
And with these words he let go of his swords, drawing arkane symbols into the thin air,  
wispering ancient words of bannishment.  
  
"What?"  
The demon discovered himself inside a circle of banishment, drawn by his oppenent during  
the fight, a circle he himself had thrown the other one out. And he felt the power of the  
circle, drawn partly with the sorcerer´s blood.  
"No! You are..."  
  
The other one smiled a crocked smile.  
"Go to hell!"  
  
Luziferon vanished behind a wall of fire, his scream of disappointment was the last thing  
left of him as he returned into his realm taking his army with him.  
  
The warrior fell down, to weak from his wound to keep standing. At the same time the  
enchantment endet and the Armaments of Ice were gone...  
  
[next: recovered from his wounds and given a place within the royal palace the traveller  
follows a nightly call towards destiny...]  
  
[end credits]  
  
  
***  
  
  
During the show Shinji had looked again and again at Rei who seemed to be fascinated.  
With the end credits she finally broke contact with the screen, lifted the head from  
his shoulter, looked into his face and nodded.  
"You were right."  
  
"Yes?"  
  
"I liked it. Could we... repeat this experience?"  
  
"Sure."  
  
"Fascinating... he didn´t need to fight, he could have walk away... like you did when the  
angel Sachiel attacked... why did you stay and piloted unit one?"  
  
"I... because of father..."  
  
"Yes?"  
  
"He called me a coward... but he had had no right to do so, not after leaving me alone..."  
  
"You wanted to prove yourself."  
  
"Yes."  
  
"Was this the only reason?"  
  
"... no."  
  
"Then, why did you do it?"  
  
"They... they would have made you pilot EVA-01..."  
  
"I remember seeing you... you wanted to help me..."  
  
"You were hurt... badly..."  
  
"So you also did it for me?!"  
  
"I... hm... uhm..."  
He swallowed.  
"Yes."  
  
"For someone you had never met before."  
  
"..."  
  
"You are no coward, Shinji. Your heart is stronger than you want to admit to yourself."  
  
"Rei..."  
He let her take his hand, let redraw the feint scars softly with her fingertips.  
  
"Only two people were ever ready to feel pain for me, your father... and you... That´s the  
reason I am loyal towards him... and because of this I will be by your side whenever you  
should need me."  
  
"I..."  
  
"It´s late. I will go to bed. You should also catch some sleep. Good night."  
  
"Yes... good night, Rei."  
  
  
***  
  
  
"Friendship... having friends... He likes me... he likes my smile... he is not like the  
Commander, he´s softer... I like him... time... time didn´t matter before, one day was  
like the others... but now this has changed..."  
  
  
***  
  
  
The next day they got the news of EVA-02 and the Second Children arriving soon from  
Germany. And Shinji completly failt during the target practices with the help of the  
target-visor.  
  
"No Coordination of hand and eye", Misato groaned.  
  
"It´s all a matter of practice", sighed Ritsuko. "But look at this - your plan seems to  
bear success."  
  
"Are these the data of Rei´s synchronisation?"  
  
"Yes, a five point raise - and that without her having any training since the battle with  
Ramiel. EVA-00 seems to give less opposion."  
  
"Opposition?"  
  
"Well, you know, the test during which Rei was hurt. EVA-00 had fought against her - and  
against Shinji during the cross-tests."  
  
"Of course I remember..."  
  
"The controlling program of unit zero is by far inferior to unit one´s, but Rei seems to  
be completly in control now."  
  
"That´s good to hear."  
  
"Of course is it good - it increases the pilots´ chances of survival. Shall Rei still  
stay with you?"  
  
"Yes, she is an uncomplicated guess."  
  
"Ah, another one to shift your chores onto..."  
  
"Ritsuko..."  
  
"I will write into my report a suggestion that she should stay at your place. Commander  
Ikari won´t like it... he looses each day some influence with her..."  
  
"And?"  
  
"Okay, so we think the same." Ritsuko laughted. "Like in the old time..."  
  
"Yes."  
  
"Have you already thought about the Second Children?"  
  
"About Asuka? No."  
  
"Ah, yes, you know her from your time at the german branch."  
  
"That´s been more than a year now. She is quite independant... but also undiscipled and  
stubborn."  
  
"Well that would work with our other two pilots, as some kind of opposing weight. But I  
meant if you will have her move in with you, too."  
  
"Misato and her pilots?" she laughted. "That would produce some problemes of space...  
on the other hand if Shinji moves in the smaller of the two rooms and the girls in the  
bigger one..."  
  
"Do you really think Rei and Asuka could life together in one room?"  
  
"Hm, this depends on Rei´s further devellopment. At the moment..."  
  
"I´ve also seen Asuka´s psychic profile."  
  
"Yes... Probably they will jump at each other throats..."  
  
  
***  
  
  
Again Shinji was doing his homework, when Misato and Rei returned from shopping. Both  
carried each two large bags.  
  
"We are back!" Misato announced and gave Rei a wink. "Come and show yourself."  
  
The boy looked at Rei and searched for words.  
  
Instead of her schooluniform she wore jeans and a pullover and shoes with small heels.  
  
Behind her Misato appeared.  
"Eh, Shinji, what do you say? Does this suits her?"  
  
"Yes... uhm, Rei, you look... great..."  
Prompty he turned red.  
  
"Eh, as I told you." Misato grinned.  
  
"Yes", Rei breathed.  
  
"Uhm, Rei, how did the tests go?"  
  
"Satisfiing."  
  
"Good."  
  
"Shinji, I´ve heard that you had had problems this morning..."  
  
He lowered his eyes.  
"Yes, Doctor Akagi says I need more training."  
  
"I´d knew of a way, if Misato allows it."  
  
"What is it?"  
  
"Hm... a surprise."  
  
He breathed hard.  
  
"Misato, could we talk in my room?"  
  
"Of course, Rei."  
  
Both of them left the room.  
  
Shinji tried hard to listen to their voices but couldn´t hear anything except some whisper   
and Misato´s excited shout: "Really?".  
  
A short time later Rei reappeared, wearing her normal shoes and her dark jackett.  
"Come."  
  
He got up and followed her.  
  
  
***  
  
  
"A billiards hall?" the young Ikari asked surprised when he saw Rei´s destination.  
  
"Yes." she answered simply before entering the hall.  
  
"Uhm, are we allowed to enter?"  
  
"Do you carry your NERV-ID?"  
  
"Yes."  
  
"Then it will be no problem. Just follow me."  
  
Within the large room it smelt for stale cigaresmoke and beer, only a man with broad  
shoulders and a bald head stood behind the counter.  
"Ah, Ayanami, long time not seen."  
  
She nodded.  
"Yes, Kuro-sama."  
  
"Does your friend belong to NERV, too?"  
  
"Yes."  
  
"Uhm, Shinji Ikari."  
Shinji thought it correct to introduce himself.  
  
"Hrmpf. Gendo´s son?"  
  
"You know my father?"  
  
"Boy, your old man has spend a lot of time here since I set up shop some twenty years ago.  
Just a hint: Don´t play with Ayanami for money."  
  
"Uh... yes."  
  
"Well, okay, have fun. You can use the usual table."  
  
"Good." Rei answered and pulled Shinji with her to the last table in the back of the  
room.  
  
"Ah, Rei, what´s the meaning of this all? How did you come know of this place?"  
  
"Commander Ikari showed me."  
  
"Father..."  
  
"I had similiar problems."  
  
"You?"  
  
"Yes. Do you think I didn´t need any practice?"  
  
"Of course not... but, ah, you always seem to have everything under controll."  
  
"That´s part of the job. Carelessness can be deadly."  
  
"Yes..." he mumbled with bitterness within his voice.  
  
"Do you still want me to help you?"  
  
He swallowed.  
"Yes."  
  
"Good. Look..."  
She got one of the cues from the board and removed the stoppings from the balls. With  
expressionless face she took aim and pushed against the white ball, scattering the other   
balls over the table. One of them, a duelcoloured, went into the upper left corner. She  
scanned the situation, took aim again, called a number and a corner and brought the called  
ball into the called corner, doing this over and over again, watched by Shinji with eyes  
wide open, until the table was empty.  
She gave him the cues and placed the balls back on the table.  
"Your turn."  
  
"Uh..."  
He took the same position he had seen her taking, aiming at the white ball and over her  
at the others.  
  
"No" Rei whispered into his ear.  
  
He twitched, pushing the white ball aside.  
  
She put the ball back into it´s place and corrected his position. He felt her breath by  
his ear, his heart was beating faster, his fingers cramped around the cue.  
  
"Keep calm..."  
  
"Rei..."  
He looked over his shoulder, saw a roguish smile in her eyes, forced himself to keep cool.  
"You have chanced over the last days..."  
  
"That´s partly your doing. Now concentrate on the balls."  
  
"Yes."  
  
  
***  
  
  
Aideo Kuro had been surprised to see Rei Ayanami entering his hall, he had known her for  
quite some time since before the angels started to attack. One day, around the year 2007  
Gendo Rokubungi had appeared in his hall - at this time he had already taken on the name  
Ikari - in the company of a little girl that nearly managed to look over the edge of the  
tables. It had been quite a while since Ikari had been there the last time, before his   
marriage he had financed his life with money won by gambling. Kuro couldn´t say that he  
liked Gendo very much, for his taste he was too much of a troublemaker. At the beginning  
he thought the girl to be his daughter after seeing the ring at Ikari´s finger, but later  
the other man had explained just to look after a friend´s daughter, something that had  
made Kuro suspicious - Ikari and friends...  
  
Later Ayanami entered his place without Ikari, when Kuro told her that she was not old  
enough to be there Ikari appeared the next day, showed him his NERV-ID and told him those  
rules weren´t made for Rei.  
And so it started...  
  
She had always been a silent girl, a bit strange, a child without parents.  
But she was more than able to defend herself. Until this very day she never again came  
in company and Ikari didn´t return also.  
  
But now Kuro saw her together with a boy of her age, entering his hall about one hour   
before his usual patrons would arrive. The boy looked like his father years ago...  
She called him Kuro-sama as she had done for the last eight years since he place a crate  
for the first time at one of the table for her to step apon.  
  
He watched them at the table and became more surprised with every minute.  
Ayanami was... well, by far more open than usual, not like girls her age, but she had  
always been a bit strange, more earnest and grown up. But in the presence of the boy...  
he nearly was tried to say that she liked him.  
And when she moved behind Ikari´s son to correct his position he wouldn´t have wondered  
if the boy had suffered from nosebleed, he had never seen her this close to someone else.  
  
  
***  
  
  
"This was... funny... fun... I can´t remember to have ever had fun before... the Commander  
always keeps telling me that emotions were irrelevant... would he be wrong? Can someone  
like the Commander be wrong? Time... time didn´t matter to me before... but now every  
moment is important... no, not every moment, but those I spend with him..."  
  
  
***  
  
  
This was just the beginning, over the next two weeks Rei continued her special training  
with Shinji until the moment he was able to stay calm even with her trying to disturb  
his concentration. At the same time he succeded during the targetting practices at the  
testcenter.  
  
The next valentine´s day Rei found a heartshaped box with choclate on her pillow and a  
simple rose in a vase on the desk, under the vase was a note, containing only two words:  
Thanks, Shinji.  
Rei didn´t know why, but for the first time in her life she felt happiness...  
  
And then Asuka stroke... 


	6. Chapter 05 - Asuka Strikes!

Chapter 05 - Asuka strikes!  
  
  
A dark room...  
  
A movie...  
  
A fight...  
  
The UN-fleet led by the carrier ´Over the Rainbow´.  
  
The angel Gagiel destrying one ship after the other.  
  
EVA-02 standing on the aircraft-carrier´s deck wearing a grey covering like the cape of  
a warrior from ancient times.  
  
EVA-02, fighting the angel above and below the pacific waters.  
  
The angel´s destruction.  
  
  
It was over, the movieprojector was turned off.  
  
"Very impressing", Misato commented.  
  
"And these fast movements... How is the Second Children, this Asuka Soryu Langley?"  
  
Misato looked at him.  
"Why do you ask, weren´t Rei and I enough for you?"  
  
"Ah..."  
  
Misato laughted, not seeing the feint red creeping acrose Rei´s cheeks...  
"I guess she´s the one to take most serious of you three."  
  
"What do you mean?"  
  
"Well, she´s already finished school, went to university and was trained by ODIN."  
  
"ODIN?"  
  
"A european secret service, works closely with NERV-Germany, western arm of UN-security.  
Asuka has been trained for the last ten year to pilot unit two."  
  
"Ten years... and she´s even gone to university..."  
  
"Yes, the two of you will be quite busy to keep her pace. So, when you return after school I will introduce you to her."  
  
The two children left.  
  
"An interesting view", Akagi mumbled.  
  
"Rei has made incredible progress... as if she had just waited for some attention."  
  
"It does good to her synchronrate."  
  
"And the two of them are really cute. Last morning they stood side by side in the kitchen  
and were cooking."  
  
"Hm, if you ask me relationsships are illogical, but as long as it is only friendship  
  
"Shinji is way to shy to try something with her."  
  
"And Rei?"  
  
"What - and Rei?"  
  
Ritsuko smiled.  
"Well, being her treating doctor I happen to know that she is in the middle of puberty,  
she might be a ticking timebomb."  
  
"Argh! What have I done..."  
  
"I did warn you, Misato!"  
  
  
***  
  
  
At this afternoon there was no school.  
  
Shinji had made the mistake to mention Rei´s ability at billiards with Touji and Kensuke  
listening, the result was, that the two unbelievers challenged the bluehaired girl.  
No one could later determine the reasons for class-represantive Hikari Horaki to join  
the group on their way to Kuro´s billiards hall.  
  
The owner of the hall was again quite surprised, since it were still three hours until  
he officially opened his doors he saw no problem in allowing the five to use one of the  
tables even the fact considered, that three of them didn´t belong to NERV.  
  
Rei stood on one side of the table, leaning on her cue, being as casual as she could.  
Shinji, Touji, Kensuke and Hikari stood on the other side, each a cue in hand. The situation was unreal enough that nobody asked for the class-represantive´s intentions.  
  
Kensuke was busy standing there as cool as possible  
"Which rules?"  
  
"Any order of balls, one point per balls. Two team, I against you, you decide the order  
in which you play. The team that scores a point gets the next try. You can start." Rei explained completly calm.  
  
The four on the opposing side looked at each other.  
  
"Okay, huddle" Touji suggested. "What´s the plan?"  
  
"Rei ist good, when it´s her turn she will put all balls in", Shinji whispered.  
  
"Hm" said Kensuke. "I´m quite good, too."  
  
Touji looked at the cue in his hand.  
"I´m glad to know which end is the correct one."  
  
"Someone should give you some proposals."  
  
Hikari cleared her throat.  
"I can do this."  
  
"You?" the other three asked at the same time.  
  
"Yes, why not? My father taught me, we have a table in the baseball."  
  
"Really?" Kensuke was amazed.  
  
"Uhm, I am not really good even after all the training" Shinji said.  
  
They agreed in Touji making the start, hoping that at least one ball would find a corner.  
Of course that didn´t happen, so it was Rei´s part.  
  
1:0 for Rei Ayanami...  
  
The order was changed, beginning with Shinji, then Kensuke who should try to place some easy balls for Touji, then Touji, finally Hikari.  
  
This time is went better, each of them put in a ball until it was Shinji´s turn again.  
He gave the white ball to much push and send it flying from the table, only to be caught  
in the air by Rei with expressionless face.  
  
2:0 for Rei Ayanami...  
  
Aideo Kuro stood leaned on his broom at the next table with a broad grin on his face.  
  
Again they changed the order, this time Hikari should start who had showed that she was  
able to play across two bands.  
  
And this time they even managed to put in enough balls to win the game before Kensuke  
failt his try.  
  
Rei bowed slightly.  
"You´ve won."  
  
"High Five!"  
Touji, Kensuke were Shinji happy.  
  
"But only because of you letting us start." Hikari grinned.  
  
Kuro clapped and went to his counter.  
"That calls for a little celebration, what do you want to drink? - But no alcohol."  
  
Rei starred at Hikari, or better, at her broad grin. The edges of her mouth twidged,   
wandered slowly upwards, at the same time her lips departed, her teeth could be seen.  
It was more an accident of a grin, rather the grinning of a hungrig wolf.  
Obviously she felt a bit strange, in the next moment her face showed the usual calm  
expression again.  
  
  
***  
  
  
"Hey, look, there!"  
Touji pointed at entry of the arcade they were just passing.  
  
Hikari reached into her bag for the newspaper she was carrying with her just in cast.  
  
"Ui!" Kensuke whistled.  
  
Shinji´s eyes started darting around nervously.  
  
Rei was, well, Rei.  
  
The object of their attention was a redhaired girl in a yellow sundress and long white  
gloves standing at one of the automats, a girl with seemingly endless long legs.  
  
"Ah, she´s sweet!" Touji whispered but Hikari´s presence kept him from slavering.  
  
Alas, this restriction didn´t work for Kensuke.  
  
"She has a nice dress" Shinji said, suddenly strongly sweating. "Can we move on?"  
  
"Hell and Damnation!" the girl shouted suddenly and kicked the automat when her target  
slipped out of the machines grip.  
  
Most interestingly Rei stepped into Shinji´s line of view exactly in the moment the girl´s dress´ skirt went up.  
  
Touji dodged intuitivly Hikari´s attack with the newspaper.  
"Okay, lets move", he mumble, "good looking but bad character."  
  
The redhaired turned around noticing her audience.  
"You, what are you looking at me?"  
  
"Uhm..." - "Ah..." - "We..."  
  
She marched up to Touji, showing him her open palm.  
"That´s 100 yen for looking."  
  
"Eh?"  
  
"Well, you did look under my skirt, didn´t you?"  
  
"Say, are you stupid?"  
  
Shinji looked at Rei, looked at Hikari, looked again at Rei, looked back to Hikari...  
  
"Ha! That´s typical! Staring, being ugly and having no money!"  
  
Touji was getting more than annoyed, he felt quite angry.  
"Now listen to me..."  
He grabbed her wrist, looked at her with pinched eyes.  
  
"Let me go!"  
  
"You imitate of a redhair, what are you thinking, tell me."  
  
"I said - let me go!"  
She gave him a kick against his shin-bone, got free, stumbled a step backwards, right  
into another person.  
  
"Argh! My Highscore! You bitch!"  
  
"Bitch?"  
At the moment a savage fight had started. Unfortunely the other guy wasn´t alone and even  
more unfortunely his friends believed the other five to belong to the redhaired girl.  
  
Rei dodged a fist-attack, pushed Shinji aside, touched one of the opponents almost softly  
at the side of his neck. The other one went limb.  
  
In the distance a sirene howled, came closer and closer.  
  
"The police! Lets move!" shouted Touji and grabbed Hikari´s arm, pulling her along with  
him.  
  
Rei frowned for a second before following Touji´s example and dragging Shinji with her.  
  
The redhaired girl hit ´her´ opponent a last time with a chair and kicked another one  
straight into the face before running into the opposite direction.  
  
Kensuke watched her running away then he followed his friends.  
"Ui, I guess I am in love..."  
  
  
***  
  
  
Halfway to NERV-headquarters Shinji and Reihad left the others, entering the geofront  
and walking up to a side-entry.  
When they reach their destination they faced again the redhaired girl which stood before  
the massive steeldoor gesticulating with an ID-card in front of the scanner.  
  
"Why does this not work? Kaputt oder was?" (trans: Damaged or what?)  
She gave the doors a hearty kick.  
  
"Eh..." Shinji said.  
  
She turned around on her heels, scanning the two.  
"You... I know you! What are you two doing here?"  
  
Rei pulled out her ID-card, passed her and ran it throw the scanner.  
  
The securitydoors opened.  
  
"Shinji, are you coming?"  
  
"Uhm, yes."  
  
"That can´t be true!" the redhaired girl shouted. Her ID-card was of the same kind. "You  
can be the First and the Third Children?!"  
  
"But we are." Rei said.  
  
"Uh, yes, that´s us." Shinji confirmed.  
  
"Unbelieveable!"  
  
  
***  
  
  
EVA-Hangar:  
  
Misato smile broadly while introducing the redhaired girl.  
"That´s Asuka Soryu Langley, the Second Children and pilot of EVA-02."  
  
The redhair behaving completly changed, smiled friendly.  
"Hello, nice to meet you."  
  
Shinji looked to Rei who returned the greeting with unmoving face before mumbling a  
hello by himself.  
  
Unit zero and one had gotten some company in unit two. The new EVANGELION was bright red  
coloured, they knew it already from the movie they had seen earlier this day. But now  
Shinji saw the biggest difference between the new EVA and the other two units.  
  
"Uhm, that´s a shoulderhalter, isn´t it?"  
  
Misato nodded.  
"Yes, a special production."  
  
"Why don´t we have something like this?"  
  
"Because I gave my protests at the right time" Asuka explained with a voice sweet as sugar. "I mean, who builds a giant robot and equips it only with a little knife, that´s... absurd."  
Her japan had a heavy foreign accent but was otherwise stainless.  
"It´s worse enough to be dependend on an extension cord."  
  
Ritsuko Akagi growled unfavorable since she had designed the EVAs this way.  
  
"Asuka was trained as a sniper." Misato expained.  
  
Asuka stroke a pose.  
"Nobody´s faster than me!"  
  
Misato laughted.  
  
Shinji swallowed, sweat on his brow.  
  
Rei didn´t react.  
  
  
***  
  
  
"What, she´s an EVA-pilot, too?" Touji coughed the next day in school after hearing Shinji´s report about what had happened. "Are the high-ups at NERV really that desperate?  
Boy, I feel truely sorry for you."  
  
"I envy you!" Kensuke explained.  
  
Hikari had the rolled-up newspaper ready, just in case. In the last time she had practiced with one in each hand.  
  
"Well, at least you will have your peace here at school since she already finished school..."  
  
Shinji allowed himself a reliefed nod.  
Then he saw Asuka coming in...  
  
  
***  
  
  
After school Asuka intercepted Shinji and Rei by walking into their path.  
"I have some questions!"  
  
Rei blinked, the only sign that she didn´t liked the way Asuka acted.  
  
"Öh, what do you want to know?" Shinji asked hoping to finish this as fast as possible.  
  
"You are the Commander´s son, aren´t you?"  
  
"... yes... he´s my father."  
  
"Okay, that explains why you are here. - And you, First, they say you are the favourite  
of the Commander, does this have some special reason?"  
  
Rei started to move, passed Asuka without paying any further attention.  
"What is the sense of this question?"  
  
Asuka grabbed her arm, pulled her around, raised the other hand as if she wanted to hit  
her.  
"Look at me when I am talking to you!"  
  
Shinji grabbed the raised hand at the wrist without thinking.  
"Stop this!"  
  
Asuka looked from Rei to Shinji.  
"Ah, now I understand" she hissed and walked away with fast pace.  
  
Shinji watched her leave.  
"If we will get along with her?"  
  
"If I am ordered... but only if I am ordered", Rei mumbled.  
  
"Lets go home."  
  
"Yes."  
For a while they went side by side, then suddenly Rei hooked her arm into Shinji´s.  
Her nearly stumble, smiled puzzled. She didn´t meet his gaze.  
  
  
***  
  
  
Shinji and Rei stood in the kitchen at the workspace and prepared dinner, this time  
it was Rei who did the cooking while Shinji cut the vegatables into small piece.  
On the stoves were several cooking pots, Rei was stiring up in one of them.  
  
"Is this alright?" she asked and presented Shinji a spoon with sauce.  
  
He sniffed.  
"Let me taste it."  
  
She brought the spoon to his lips, he tasted carefully not to burn his lips.  
"Hm, good! Rei, if you continue to cook that good Misato won´t need me anymore and throw  
me out of the door."  
  
"She wouldn´t do this... Oh, I understand, a compliment. Thank you." She smiled, winked.  
"But if she did I would throw her out and let you back in through the window."  
  
"Ah..."  
Again he found himself searching for words. The original two weeks she should have stayed  
were long over, but no one had talked about this. Each day she had opened up a little  
more, had others allowed to come into contact with her. Of course she was still far away  
from being an ordinary fourteen-soon fifteen year old girl, but she had chosen the right  
path...  
  
  
***  
  
  
"He wanted to protect me... why? He knows that I am able to defend myself... He cares for  
me... I... It feels strange... He looks at me and my heart beats faster..."  
  
  
***  
  
  
Kyoto, The Temple of the Brotherhood:  
  
The abbot welcomed his guest with a nod.  
  
Without a word the whitehaired man sat down on his heels.  
"I am grateful for your hospitality, Sifu."  
  
"I´ve asked Thou to come. And I am grateful that Thou came."  
  
"Of course, neither the Hermetic Order nor the Brotherhood have the ressources for greater action after the Impact."  
  
"And considering your attempt to change the lokal paradigm, the way people think about  
magic..."  
  
"Yes, I guess I am the only one still able to work true magic in a city like Tokio-3."  
The whitehaired smiled thinly. He emaned an aura of cold.  
"Within the borders of Tokio-3 creatures of the Deep Umbra really have appeared. If we  
manage to find out where and how they are crossing the mirror, we might find a way to   
pass the Tempest and bring back the lost."  
  
"Yes... but one have to be a Mage of the Hermetic Order to make such plans."  
  
"I have survived the Inquisition, the French Revolution, a student turned Nephandi, two  
World Wars, the Technocracy, the end of the Ascencion War and the Second Impact. And I  
am damned if some bloody aliens should manage what the last eight century couldn´t."  
  
"What are Thou planning?"  
  
"At first I will spend some time in Tokio-3 to get the picture..."  
  
"Be careful, within the city borders chi simply vanishes, this places seems to simply drink Quintessence like a dry sponge.  
  
"I already felt this, but it shouldn´t be a problem, since I have the old powers of the Order at my disposal."  
  
"Your power is older than the Council of Nine."  
  
"Yes, I´m still working with Bonisagus´ Theory, as the Brotherhood still walks the paths  
of the Dô."  
  
"I don´t know exactly what Tohu are talking about, but Thou have the trust of the Brotherhood since Thou accompained our delegation to the Great Conclave."  
  
The whitehaired just nodded.  
"I am grateful for your trust, Sifu, but I am not sure if I am still worth it."  
  
"Thou are talking about the defeat at LaRochelle."  
  
"Yes, Sifu... I was the general of the Traditions´ forces and I was the sole survivor..."  
  
"And this guilt rests on your shoulders."  
  
"Too many died under my command. I lost the future to the Technocracy... I lost those who  
placed their trust in me..."  
  
"Hm... come, maybe we should meditate." 


	7. Chapter 06 - Spies and Angels

Chapter 06: Spies and angels  
  
  
ASGARD, headquarters of ODIN, western branch of the United Nation´s secret service.  
  
The bureau was still new and unfamiliar. The walls were wood panelled, between file cabinets   
several pictures of former ODIN-directors and high-ranging operatives hung, in a corner a   
large vase stood, holding the staffs of several western nation flags.  
The room was dominated by a large table, behind the table was a comfortable armchair, in front   
of it two others, two chair were in another corner.  
The table was clean and tidy, there were only two objects on the plate, one was a frame picture   
showing a smiling man with black hair, a darkblond woman and a redhaired girl  
with serious looking blue eyes. The other object was golden metalbar, into which letters were   
engraved:  
Commander Wolf Larsen, Special Operations Director.  
  
Sunlight fell through a large window, at the window stood a man, the same man that was shown   
on the picture. He looked out of the window at the meadow below.  
Children were playing on the meadow, children of ODIN-operatives. Nothing came through the   
closed windows. He reached for the lever, opened the left window. His hand was made of black   
metal, as were most parts of his body since the Impact. He was a cyborg...  
  
Laughing came into the room, he couldn´t help but smile, stepped away from the window,   
returned to his desk and sat down.  
  
It was two o´clock in the afternoon.  
  
A knock at the door.  
  
"Come in."  
  
An older man in a grey suit entered the room, he had thin hair, his skin was of a light  
yellow colour, a penetrant smell of nicotin surrounded him.  
"I just wanted to come and see if you have already become familiar with the new bureau."  
  
"Well, I do my best, Commander."  
Larsen got up and shook his visitor´s hand.  
  
"Ah, that´s not necassary anymore, I´ve left the agency."  
  
"I am sitting in your chair - and I know who managed this."  
  
"Nonsense. And, how were the first days?"  
  
"Full of hectic. My wife feels worse and I am full of concern for Asuka."  
  
"Hm..."  
  
Larsen pushed a button under the plate.  
"We can talk, there are no bugs within the area of the whisperfield."  
  
"Good, did you already have a look at the documents?"  
  
"Of course, I send Agent Kaji to investigate on this matter."  
  
"Good choice. He´s quite competent, if a bit reckless."  
  
"Alas it is quite difficult to believe that an organsation called SEELE wants to destroy  
the world to raise their leaders to godhod."  
  
"That´s the reason I gave you the material - you have doubts."  
  
"Alone the fact that director Kiehl should be part of this conspiricy..."  
  
"If my sources are right he is even their leader, SEELE-01."  
  
"This doesn´t make it any easier... An international conspiricy of national and religious   
leaders... the director of the UN-secret service..."  
  
"And what if it is true? If they are truely planning to unite the souls of all humans?"  
  
"Yes... And would this be so wrong... I don´t know, I´ve asked myself this question already."  
  
"And that´s reason you were my choice, I can only repeat myself. And I have to tell you   
that I am sorry."  
  
"Why?"  
  
The other one ignited a cigar.  
"That I leave you alone with this. I wouldn´t have the stomach to decide about the fate  
of humanity."  
  
  
***  
  
  
Tokio-03  
  
Angel-Alarm...  
  
They had give the angel the codename Israfel, it came out of the ocean.  
  
Because of unit zero still damaged Rei stayed at the headquarters, while EVA-01 and -02  
marched into battle. She leaned against the wall next to one of the doors of the command   
center, watching the action on the large screen.  
  
Further above, behind his desk, Gendo Ikari sat, looking over his folded hands, sub-  
commander Kozo Fuyutsuki in his back, his face emotionsless.  
  
Rei revered the Commander, she knew that he was reason for her very existence. But during  
the last weeks doubts had grown inside of her. Why didn´t older Ikari care for his son?  
Why had Shinji had to grow up without a father? Why had the Commander told her that Shinji   
had run away when in reality it had been Gendo who had his son left behind? Slowly  
she recognized that she also was only a tool for the Commander, like everyone else, like  
Shinji was. And she knew that she would protect Shinji as far as it was within her power...  
  
EVA-02 marched into the water, lance in hand.  
  
Israfel met the EVANGELION.  
  
Asuka attacked, hittig the angel hart, cutting it in two.  
  
Bridgecrewman Shigeru Aoba raised a fist.  
"Yes!"  
  
But there was no explosion.  
  
Rei´s eyes got bigger. She started to move, wanted to shout toward Misato to warn the  
pilots, but it was already to late. The angel became two beings, each half attacking  
one of the EVANGELIONs, taking the pilots completly by surprise.  
  
Shinji was able to defend himself for a while, but when he was also attacked by the second   
half of Israfel after EVA-02 had been beaten he also succombed.  
NERV gave up on the sole right for tactical interventions against angels, the UN used  
a N2-mine to paralyse Israfel. The MAGI calculated that it would take the angel five days  
to regenerate, the usage of further N2-mine would have destroyed the complete country.  
Five days were left to work out a tactic, and five days the repairs on the two EVAs would  
take.  
  
Finally Ryoji Kaji who had come to Japan with Asuka helped Misato to find a solution,  
Asuka and Shinji were told to train for a synchronattack, using the rhythm of music to  
coordinate their movements against the angel´s halves.  
Both pilots were to stay inside headquarters, living together in the same room.  
  
During this time Rei was mostly alone at Misato´s apartment, she was silent, doing the  
chores Shinji normally did. On the other hand she found herself more than once in front  
of the door to his room, hand on the doorknob, asking herself what he might be doing at  
this moment.  
She read her books or laid on her bed staring at the ceiling when she not at school or  
busy with training.  
  
Three days went by.  
  
The forth day Rei was asked by Misato to come with her, something Rei had waited for all  
the time. The whole day she watched Shinji and Asuka train, more than once she nearly  
let her mask of calm fall and was tempted to attack the redhaired girl when Asuka called  
Shinji names and made him alone responsible for each and every mistake. When she left  
she looked over her shoulder, seeing the look on Shinji´s face begging for help. She  
gave him an encouraging smile.  
  
This evening Misato was home the first time since the beginning of the operation.  
  
"Misato..."  
  
"Yes, Rei?" she asked surprised.  
  
"The Second Children treats Shinji badly."  
  
"Hm, yes."  
  
"Why am I not training with him?"  
  
"You know the reason, unit zero is still damaged."  
  
"Yes. I could pilot unit two."  
  
"Asuka wouldn´t like this. She insists on being the only one piloting EVA-02."  
  
"I don´t care." she said with dark determination.  
  
Misato looked at her.  
"You like Shinji, don´t you?"  
  
"Yes... Soryu mustn´t treat him badly."  
  
"Well, that´s what I think, too... Lets see tomorrow again how they are doing. Rei, could  
you work together with Shinji?"  
  
"Yes."  
  
"Good, so we still have a joker. And in two days it will be decided, either the world ends   
or Shinji is free again and we will have him back."  
  
"Yes. He won´t fail."  
  
"You place great trust in him. And Asuka?"  
  
"She makes me... angry..."  
  
"Hm, I see... I have already recognized that she is behaving quite different when she  
feels not monitored by grown-ups. I don´t like this thing, too, but she is our best  
pilot. Rei... Shinji already lifes here with me for quite some time and I see as him as  
the little brother I never had... Maybe he even sees in me some kind of older sister,   
an older, sloven, druken sister..."  
Misato grinned.  
  
Rei´s corners of her mouth twitched.  
  
"Hey, you can do this, too."  
  
"I..."  
  
"Come on, just a little bit..."  
  
Rei touched her face with her fingertips.  
"Is this a... grin?"  
  
"Yes. Did you already... smile?"  
  
"Yes..."  
  
"What makes you smile?"  
  
"Shinji..."  
  
"Sounds like you would like him a lot." She gave Rei a wink. "Did you already kiss?"  
  
Rei turned red, very red.  
"No."  
  
"I think, he likes you, too."  
  
"If Soryu treats him furtherly badly..."  
  
"You won´t do anything, undestood?"  
  
"Yes, Captain."  
  
  
***  
  
  
"Shinji, what might he be doing now? Soryu and he share a room. Soryu... red... I don´t  
like the colour red... Blood is red... I don´t like blood... Soryu makes me angry...  
Anger is unproductive... she treats Shinji badly... I want to protect him, but I am not  
allowed...  
  
  
***  
  
  
The next day´s synchron-training wasn´t quite synchron. In the middle Asuka stopped and  
looked at Rei angryly.  
"What is she doing here? That makes me nervous!"  
  
Shinji opened the mouth but Misato was faster by sending Rei into the field. The boy was  
irritated, why was he to dance with Rei know after training with Asuka?! But then a feint  
smile crept over his face as Rei took position next to him and Misato started the music  
again.  
He moved with the rhythm as good as he could.  
  
Rei mirrored each and every of his moves, it was perfect...  
  
Misato and Kaji were amazed.  
"If EVA-00 wouldn´t still be in repair..."  
  
Asuka was angry, very angry.  
"Then let her take EVA-02!"  
With these words she stormed out of the room.  
  
Rei wanted to say something, but Kaji sent Shinji after Asuka to bring her back.  
  
  
***  
  
  
"Why... why does he have to train with her? I am ready to fight by his side, I know I can  
do it, I´ve proved that I am better. Asuka... she makes me angry... more than angry...  
she´s got Shinji... What feeling is this? Jealousy?"Eifersucht?"  
  
  
***  
  
  
With the day came also the moment of truth. The two EVAs had been made ready with time  
running out when the angel started to move again. Asuka and Shinji managed to destroy  
Israfel.  
  
  
***  
  
  
After a week of absence Shinji had gone to school again, several tests would be held the   
next week and he had no idea about the topics as had Touji and Kensuke. Only Rei had some  
kind of overview. It was Touji who proposed to go to the Katsuragi residence for working  
on a plan to prepare for the tests. When Shinji told him that he only wanted to see  
Misato, Touji carefully looked around for Hikari before nodding enthusiastically.  
  
Rei didn´t comment on the subject, she had Shinji back and she was willing to show this  
to the world by hooking under on the way from school, silencing the whistling Kensuke  
with the raising of a brow.  
  
When the small group arrived at the apartment they found it full for boxes and suitcases.  
And in the middle Asuka stood and grinned.  
  
"What are you doing here?" Shinji stammered.  
  
"Oh, I am living here now, Misato asked me so nice. You can move your stuff into the  
broom closet."  
She pointed at the sole box with his things within.  
  
"What?"  
  
"Well, I am moving into your room."  
  
"Ah..."  
Shinji´s jaw fell down.  
  
Rei wanted step at his side and tell him that he could slep in her room when Misato came  
into the room.  
  
"Ah, you are already back."  
  
"Misato-san!" Touji and Kensuke shouted at the same time full of enthusiasm.  
  
"Oh, hello! - Shinji, Rei, Asuka has asked me to move in with us, I thought Shinji could  
take the smaller of the two rooms while Rei and Asuka move into the larger one."  
  
"What, I shall share a room with... Wondergirl?"  
  
"Another arrangement is not possible. - Shinji and Rei can´t sleep in the same room."  
  
Rei had an answer ready but felt Shinji stiffen, about to follow an impuls...  
  
"Hrmpf." Asuka was faster than them  
  
Kensuke pointed at Misato´s uniform jacket  
"Misato-san, you have been promoted!"  
  
"Hm, how do you see this?" Touji asked.  
  
"Look, she has an additional stripe on her jackett! Misato-san has been promoted from   
Captain to Major!"  
  
Misato turned red.  
"Yes, for the success with the last angel."  
  
"Ui, great! Congratulations!" Kensuke shouted.  
  
"Thanks."  
  
"That must be celebrated!" He looked at Touji.  
  
"Yes, party!"  
  
  
***  
  
  
A little bit later, after moving the furniture around together they were sitting around  
the dinertable, Shinji sat between Asuka and Rei, next to Rei on the other side sat Touji,   
on the other side of the table Misato and PenPen sat while Kensuke was running  
around the table. On the table stood a heating plate with small piece of meat and fish.  
Shinji had cooked some rice for Rei.  
Even later Hikari came, invited by Asuka who had become friends with her during the last  
weeks; the last one to come was Kaji, much to the enthusiasm of Asuka.  
  
Somewhen after the fifth beer - or maybe the fifteenth - Misato decided to allow the teenager   
a beer each.  
"Ah, come on Rei, that´sh an order! And shou, too, Shinshi."  
  
While Rei did es ordered Shinji hesitate.  
"I don´t like this stuff, Misato."  
  
"Eh, jusht a bit."  
  
So he pretended to take a sip and then placed the can next to Touji.  
  
Rei licked her lips. And that was the beginning of a whole bunch of problems...  
  
Somewhen later Hikari said goodbye, not having drunken anything. Touji and Kensuke were  
laying on the floor, while Asuka had a glassy look in her eyes. Rei was leaning against  
Shinji and giggled while leering at the still halffilled can before Asuka.  
  
Kaji got up and groaned.  
"Bedtime for pilots."  
  
"Ah, come on, Kashi, sche day ish shtill shoung" Misato mumbled drunkenly.  
  
"And you need some fresh air."  
He dragged Asuka on her feet.  
"Go to bed, young miss!"  
  
"With you?"  
  
"Go!"  
  
"Okay..."  
She slinked away.  
  
"Shinji?"  
  
"Yes, Kaji-san?"  
  
"What is with Rei?"  
  
"I don´t know."  
Shinji thought Rei´s behavior to be weird.  
"Rei?"  
  
"Hm?"  
*giggle*  
"Give me a beer..."  
  
"Oh dear..."  
  
"Completly filled up" Kaji mumbled. "What kind of stuff did Katsuragi buy?"  
  
"The usual."  
  
"Hm, right. - Rei?"  
  
"Yes, Kaji-san? Do I get a new beer?"  
  
"No. You will go to bed." She didn´t move, so he used the magical word: "That´s an order."  
  
"Yes, Major. A pity. Beer tasted good..."  
She walked into the same direction Asuka had already vanished into.  
  
"I will take care for Katsuragi", Kaji explained. "Okay?"  
  
Shinji nodded while placing blankets over his friends and putting a pillow under Touji´s  
head.  
  
  
***  
  
  
Rei laid on her bed, still giggling. She wore now the blue nightgown she had brought the  
day Misato went shopping with her.  
Oh, and she was still giggling, just in case you haven´t noticed.  
  
Asuka´s bed stood in the opposing corner of the room, she laid diagonnally within, a  
leg dangled over the edge. Asuka was snoring.  
  
Rei stopped giggling and looked at Asuka, started suddenly again to gigggle, getting up.  
  
On the smallbed-side table next to Asuka´s bed was Asuka´s opened make-up box.  
  
Rei had a terrible plan...  
After completing her plan she left the room and moved very fast across the corridor into  
Shinji´s room.  
  
  
***  
  
  
Shinji was laying on his bed, face to the wall, blanket drawn nearly over the ears, trying   
to form a barriere between himself and the rest of the world.  
  
The door was opened.  
  
He was silent, hoping that whoever it was would leave if believing that he was already  
sleeping.  
  
The door was closed again. Something feel down on the floor, something light.  
  
Shinji stiffed when his blanket was grabbed an somebody climed to him under the sheets,  
the warm naked body of a definitive femele person. Suddenly he was completly awaken.  
The next moment the other person started nibbling at his earlobe.  
  
He opened the eyes, turned his hand.  
"Rei!"  
  
"Hm."  
She purred softly, still pressing her body against his. He felt some reaction within his  
shorts. Her eyes were closed when she snuggled up to him, put the head on his chest and  
fell asleep.  
  
"Ah..."  
He swallowed, pulled then the blanked up to her shoulders and embraced her carefully.  
He could feel her heartbeat, calm and steady, in rhythm with his own.  
And somewhen he also fell asleep... 


	8. Chapter 07 - The Morning after

Chapter 07: The morning after  
  
  
Misato awoke his a headache the size of Tokio-3. She remember weakly last evening´s party  
and walking with Kaji through the night. And she remembered to have kissed him - or had  
he kissed her?  
With still closed eyes she groped hectically the space next to her to find out if she was  
alone. Nobody was laying by her side.  
Finally she managed to open her eyes. Light fell through the window in blinding brightness.   
She rolled over to the other side, saw that she was still in her underwear,  
reached out for her clothes that were laying on the floor next to the bed.  
"Coffee, I need coffee... and a beer..."  
  
  
***  
  
  
When she left her bedroom she nearly stumbled over Kensuke who laid rolled up on on the  
doorstep. Carefully she moved over him. In the middle of the room a snoring Touji laid  
while Kaji was on the couch, legs dangling over the elbow-rest.  
  
Misato smiled by the thought that he hadn´t exploited the situation. Then she looked at  
the dinnertable, saw the empty beer cans. Paralysed she stopped.  
"My god... I gave them alcohol... If anything has happened I will loose my head..."  
She walked down the corridor, decided to look after Shinji first.  
  
Shinji laid on his bed, Rei next to and partly atop of him, head on his chest, hand on  
his shoulder, while he kept her embraced. Next to the bed Rei´s nightie laid.  
  
Misato had to grab the doorframe to keep her balance while giving a loud startled wail...  
  
Rei moved her lips without talking and pulled the blanket over her head. She was used to  
noise.  
  
Shinji opened his eyes.  
"Mi-Misato, it´s not like..."  
  
"No?!"  
  
Out of the opposing room Asuka came.  
"Why are you shouting so loud...? Argh! You... you perverts! That´s really obscene!"  
  
Shinji felt the urge to pull the blanked over his head, too, hoping not to be seen if he  
was unable to see anybody. Alas, Rei had clutched the edge of the blanket.  
  
"Eh, what´s going on?"  
Touji came dragging his feet from the livingroom.  
  
"These... these... these two..." Asuka grumbled while turning toward him.  
  
Touji screamed and stepped back.  
"Argh! A redhaired demon!"  
  
"Have you gone over the edge?" Misato screamed, her headache had grown meanwhile the size  
of Japan. Then she also saw what had happened to Asuka. The redhaired girl had white make-up   
on the face, black horns were painted on her forehead and a goatie on her chin with additional   
´decorations´ all over the face.  
"Asuka..."  
  
"What?"  
  
"Go to the bathroom and wash your face."  
  
"Why? What´s up?"  
She ran into the bathroom, looked into the mirror and screamed angryly. The next moment  
she was already back, pushed Touji aside, squeezed around Misato and grabbed the blanked.  
"Wondergirl, you did this!"  
Forceful she pulled at the blanked, had to gasp her air when seeing the naked Rei.  
  
Rei gave a protesting ´Hrmpf!´  
  
Misato put a hand before Touji´s eyes and pushed him back when he tried to follow Asuka.  
"Back to the livingroom, Suzuhara!"  
  
"Yes, Ma´am."  
  
She drew a deep breath, noticing with a ray of hope that Shinji was still wearing his  
shorts.  
"Asuka, go and get me the phone."  
  
"Misato..."  
  
"I will not discuss now. Go and get the damned phone!"  
  
"Yes..."  
  
She sat down on the edge of the bed after placing the blanket again over Rei who was  
still snuggling up to Shinji.  
"Well... what did happen here?"  
  
"Nothing", Shinji hurried to explain.  
  
"Nothing? This does not look like ´nothing´"  
  
"Misato..."  
  
"No... no words..." She turned to Rei. "So, young Miss, what do you have to say?"  
  
"Soryu was snorring."  
  
"Agh..."  
  
Asuka come back, not looking at Shinji or Rei, just giving Misato the phone and leaving   
again.  
  
Misato entered Ritsuko´s number, a moment later NERV´s head scientist answered.  
"Ritsuko, it´s me. Come to my apartment immediatly... Yes, it is important."  
She ended the connection.  
"Shinji, put something on and wait in the livingroom. Rei, you stay here."  
  
  
***  
  
  
Akagi came about ten minutes later and entered Shinji´s room.  
  
Meanwhile the others had also awakened. Asuka was in her romm, not wishing to be within  
the same room with all the perverts as she said. Kaji sat comfortably on the couch, Shinji   
sat next to him like a piece of misfortune, while Touji and Kensuke took turns  
trying to have him spill the beans or telling him with recognition what kind so sly dog  
he was.  
  
At the same time Ritsuko finished examining Rei.  
"What they two of them did, it hasn´t come to the last."  
  
Misato finally could breath again normally.  
  
"What did happen anyway? Did you have a party?"  
  
"Eh, well, some victory celebration, but just a very little."  
  
"And you did fill up Rei here with beer?"  
  
"I... no... yes, but just a little bit..."  
  
"Misato, you don´t know how lucky you are. Alcohol absolutly doesn´t agree with her.  
Her body is unable to digest it, as well as she is unable to digest animal fets. You  
could have poison her."  
  
Misato turned white as chalk.  
"I didn´t know..."  
  
"Don´t you read my medical report? Shinji for example reacts allergic to almonds."  
  
"I thought... Rei has a constitution like a draft horse, and..."  
  
"I won´t tell anyone, since the situation is under controll."  
  
"Thanks, Ritsuko."  
  
"I am not doing this for you but for Rei. Commander Ikari would come here personally to  
drag her away and throw her again into this hole of an apartment he dumped her years   
ago."   
  
"Thank you, Doctor Akagi" Rei said softly sitting on the bed rolled into the blanket.  
  
Ritsuko blinked.  
"No problem, Rei. But you will keep your hands away from beer or other alcoholical drinks,   
do you understand?"  
  
"Yes."  
  
"That´s an order, coming from NERV´s leading medical officer - and you know that these  
orders are standing above all other."  
  
"Yes."  
  
"Good. And now... Why did you climb into Shinji´s bed?"  
  
"Soryu was snorring."  
  
"Hm." Akagi looked at Misato. "That reminds me of our time at the university. I sometimes  
wished for a place to vanish to, too, when my roomie came home drunken."  
  
Misato turned red, lowered her eyes.  
  
Rei giggled softly.  
  
Ritsuko frowned at the bluthaired girl.  
  
"Sorry."  
  
"No, Rei, it´s okay. If we suppress our feelings to much they might overbear us one day.  
Balance is important but a human must be able to laugh or cry... What are your feelings  
for Shinji?"  
  
"I... like him."  
  
"Like a brother? Like a comrade-in-arms? A fellow lodger? A friend?"  
  
"No... more..."  
  
"I see..." Ritsuko sighed. "Misato, has Shinji already been given... you know... the talk?"  
  
Misato twitched.  
"I... I think not... on the other hand... today..."  
  
"Normally this is a father´s job, alas, I have problems imagining that he has time for  
something like this. You should do it."  
  
"Yes." Misato smiled as if she had biten into a citrus. "I guess that´s part of the job."  
  
"I will explain it to Rei."  
  
"Thanks."  
  
"Yes. Hm, I have no idea if the two were too drunk to do anything, if Shinji didn´t wish  
to abuse the situation or if he is simply to shy..."  
  
"Shinji is reliable, he just doesn´t want to perceive it himself this way."  
  
"Good. Maybe you should go to your other guest."  
  
  
***  
  
  
Touji and Kensuke were sent home by Misato with friendly but determined words.  
Both were in agreement that Shinji must have the special something, because of having a  
naked girl in his bed even if really nothing had happened between him and Rei.  
  
Kaji had left the apartment, too, sat in his car and laughed. After some thinking he  
decided to prevent Shinji´s father from getting the news, even if he would have loved to  
see the expression on Gendo Ikari´s face.  
  
Asaka sat on her bed and planned her revenge...  
  
  
***  
  
  
After Ritsuko had left, too, Misato told Rei to get dressed and went into the kitchen   
without looking at Shinji, to grab a beer from the frigde.  
She just had started opening the can when she stopped and lifted the can before her eyes.  
"Shinji..."  
  
"Yes, Misato?"  
His voice was very nervous.  
  
"Come and help me."  
She opened the can and poured the beer into the sink.  
  
"Misato, what..."  
  
"Without this stuff I would have never had the idea you could also have a sip. So...  
Away with it!"  
  
"And you?"  
  
She smiled.  
"I will try to survive with coffee, could you do some?"  
  
"Yes, Misato."  
He smiled, too.  
  
"Shinji, howmuch did you dring?"  
  
"Nothing."  
  
She wasn´t surprised.  
"I´m sorry to have screamed at you."  
  
"Uhm..."  
  
"I will have to explain you some things... about men... and women..."  
  
*gulp*  
  
  
***  
  
  
"The memory of last night is blurred... I remember his hand stroking my hair... his heartbeat...   
warm... I think his lips have touched my forehead... it was... pleasent..." 


	9. Chapter 08 - Asuka´s Revenge

Chapter 08: Asuka´s Revenge  
  
  
About a week later Rei found a living frog in her bed.  
  
Asuka sat on her bed, a broad grin on her face in expectation of Rei´s scream. But her  
grin vanished when Rei took the frog carefully and asked her where she had found it.  
  
"Don´t you feel disgust? It is so green and slimy..."  
  
"No, why should I, Soryu?"  
  
"Ah, now I see why you and Shinji..."  
  
"Second Children, I ask you to leave Shinij out of this, and I am only asking once."  
  
"Oh, Wondergirl, you don´t happen to be in love, do you? In love with Shinji-without-a-  
spine?"  
  
Without further words Rei left to bring the frog back to the nearby park.  
  
"Hm, just wait, I will get my revenge", Asuka whispered.  
  
  
***  
  
  
Im the middle of the night Asuka croached up to Rei´s bed with a bucket of warm water.  
The other girl was laying in the exactly right position, Asuka only had to carefully take  
an arm without waking her up and move the hand into the water.  
  
"Let´s see if they still think you to be perfect when you start peeing into your bed,  
Wondergirl" Asuka grinned.  
  
Rei laid on the side, back to the wall, a hand under the pillow.  
  
Asuka reached for Rei´s wrist. And blinked. She couldn´t move the arm. She checked on Rei,  
saw that she was still sleeping, started a second try. Again she couldn´t move Rei´s arm.  
  
Suddenly Rei whispered a word, a name: "Shinji..."  
  
Asuka jumped back, nearly turning over the bucket.  
  
  
***  
  
  
She looked into mirror while combing her hair.  
Who are you?  
"Rei Ayanami, I am Rei Ayanami."  
What are you doing?  
"I live."  
Why are you living?  
"To pilot EVA-02"  
Why are you living?  
"To fight the angels."  
Is this all?  
"No..."  
Why are you living?  
"I want to live... for him..."  
  
  
***  
  
  
Shinji was playing his cello, in the last time he truly had neglected his training.  
He didn´t play because of feeling joy or liking the music, but because of having been   
told to do it, because of his foster-parents having bought the cello and never telling  
him to stop.  
  
On the other hand, whoever did listen to his music knew that he had great talent.  
And it had one advantage for him - when he played he completly lived for the music and  
forgot his surroundings. So he didn´t noticed Rei coming home from an afternoon full of  
syncronisationtraining and listening before entering the other room.  
  
A short time later the sounds of a viola came from the other room in the same melody Shinji   
was playing.  
  
  
***  
  
  
That next night Shinji was awakened by a hand touching his shoulder.  
"Hm?"  
  
Rei stood by his bed.  
"May I disturb you?"  
  
"What is?"  
He rubbed his eyes, looked to the clock. Short past midnight.  
  
"Asuka´s snorring again."  
  
"Pinch her nose."  
  
"No. May I stay?"  
  
"Rei, Misato has said..."  
  
"She needn´t know. I just want... I just wish to be near you..."  
  
In the feint moonlight he saw the begging expression on her face.  
"Rei, what is?"  
  
"It´s... loneliness..."  
  
He swallowed, moved asinde.  
"And Misato?"  
  
"I am back within my own bed before she will get up, promised."  
  
"Uhm..."  
  
"I don´t want you to get into trouble."  
  
"Then please hold me."  
She went under the blanket and snuggled up to him.  
  
"Iiiek! Your feet are cold."  
  
She giggled.  
"Sorry."  
  
Shinji moved his fingers through her hair.  
"Rei, when you are next to me I have no nightmare", he whispered.  
  
"When I am with you I can dream... Shinji, please, never run away again."  
  
"I... I won´t run away again, never again."  
  
  
***  
  
  
The next day the three of them, Shinji, Rei and Asuka, were within the NERV-owned swimming-pool.  
  
Shinji sat at one of the table doing his homework. Since he and Rei did the homework  
together it all seemed way easier, as if she would inspire him.  
  
Rei was in the pool, swimming her leagues, doing a very relaxed impression.  
  
"Shinji?"  
  
"Hm?"  
He looked up.  
  
Asuka stood in front of him, slightly bowing. She wore a write-red stripped two parted   
swimsuit. Her breastsize was quite impressing.  
"What are you doing?"  
  
"Uhm..."  
He looked aside, being suddenly very nervous.  
"Physics."  
To be exact this was the last he had to do, it still the subject he had most problems  
with.  
  
"Yes? Well, I´m quite skilled with this stuff... Hm, I still have some problems with the  
kanji... ah, thermodynamical expansion..."  
  
"Eh, yes."  
  
"And that´s the problem? Okjay, an example..."  
  
Rei stopped swimming in the middle of the pool, and watched Asuka placing her hands on  
her breasts and Shinji´s eyes nearly jumping out of their sockets. She decided to do  
something.  
"Shinji, could you please come over here?"  
  
"Uh, yes, at once."  
He broke the eyecontact to Asuka´s... well... bodily advantages... and walked over to the  
pool´s edge with Rei swimming fast to the same destination.  
  
"Why don´t you join me in the water?" she asked smiling.  
  
He grinned with embarressment.  
"I can´t swim."  
  
"Oh."  
  
"Yes. I´m sorry."  
  
"No, you don´t have to, I didn´t know. What kind of trouble do you have with the questions?"  
  
From Asuka came a derogatory ´Hrumpf´, then she jumped into the water, suddenly Shinji  
found his clothes soaked with water.  
  
Rei frowned into Asuka´s direction.  
"Sorry."  
  
He crouched a the pool´s edge, reached out hestitantly and stroked her wet hair.  
"It doesn´t matter, Rei."  
  
  
***  
  
  
Two days later synchrontraining was scheduled again.  
  
After getting the results Ritsuko said that Rei nearly reached Shinji with Asuka leading  
by hair. Asuka made a face as if she had bitten into a citrusfruit while hearing that her  
lead had shrinked again.  
  
The three had left their entryplug and were under way to the changing rooms when suddenly   
lights went out.  
  
"A power failure?" Shinji suspected and felt for the next wall to get rid of the feeling  
of being stranded in the middle of nothing.  
  
"In this case the emergency generators would have already started." Rei´s whispering  
voice came out of the darkness.  
  
Asuka twitched, Rei was right behind her.  
"Do you have to whisper like a ghost and startle my?"  
  
Rei ignored her words as she was giving her best to ignore Asuka completly.  
"Maybe there was an accident. We should go to the commandroom."  
  
"Who made you our leader?"  
  
"It won´t get better by arguing." Shinji said. "And she´s right, by the way."  
He followed her steps.  
  
"Yes, that was clear, that you would turn to her side. - Hey, don´t leave me alone here!"  
She hurried to catch up.  
"Wondergirl, not so fast!"  
  
Rei´s steps slowed down and for a short second Asuka thought to have seen a pair of glowing   
red eyes within the darkness.  
  
"Sorry, I know the building like the back of my hand, so..."  
  
"This does not interest me."  
  
"Rei, where are you?" Shinji asked.  
  
"I´m here. Take my hand."  
  
"Oh... yes... thank you."  
  
"Take my hand, take my hand" Asuka imitated. "Wondergirl and Loverboy, pff!"  
She trottet further through the darkness.  
  
At the next corner they ran into Makoto Hyuga who had been ordered to look for them by  
Doctor Akagi and now lead them to the commandroom. There they heard that Misato and Kaji  
were missing.  
  
"I go and search for them!" Asuka explained. "Wondergirl, come, you know the area."  
  
Rei didn´t show but she had quite enough of Asuka´s behavior.  
"Why should I? They will the way on their own."  
  
"Well, if you don´t want, fine. - Shinji, lets go!"  
She took Hyuga´s lamp and dragged the boy way, ignoring Akagi´s protests.  
  
Ritsuko turned to Rei who stood like paralysed.  
"You let her do this?"  
  
"What do you mean?"  
  
"I thought Shinji is your friend."  
  
"Yes."  
  
"So, why did you let him go with her?"  
  
"I... I want to ask for permission to join the search party."  
  
"Go."  
Ritsuko smiled silently. The more Rei discovered her emotions the less she would be a  
rival for Gendo Ikari´s favor...  
  
  
***  
  
  
Shinji and Asuka found themselves in a dead-end before the doors of an elevator that refused   
to door.  
  
"Damned" Asuka said.  
  
"It was quite stupid to simply march away", Shinji mumbled.  
  
"Shut your mouth, if I were interested in your opinion I would have asked."  
  
"I am just asking myself where your bad character does originate."  
  
"And where did you suddenly find a spine?"  
  
"I... uhm..."  
  
"Oh, yes. I see."  
She sighed.  
"Maybe we should have taken a plan with us."  
  
Shinji joined into the sigh.  
"What now? Back again?"  
  
"Don´t know. We are some kind of heroes..."  
  
"If an angel attacks right now..."  
  
"Don´t say it, yes?"  
  
"Yes."  
  
"Say... Shinji, did Rei and you..."  
  
"What?" he asked startled.  
  
"Did you already kiss?"  
  
"Uhhmmm... we..."  
  
"Of course you have, as close as you are."  
  
"No..." he whispered.  
  
"What? No?"  
She was clearly surprised. Then she grinned.  
"Do you want to... practice? With me?"  
  
"What? What´s the good with this now?"  
  
"Ha, I knew it, you are coward, right? Even if Rei jumped overr her shadow you, wouldn´t  
still have the courage to do it."  
  
"That´s not right!"  
  
"What, you are not afraid?"  
  
"No."  
He swallows and pursed his lips.  
  
Asuka hesitate for a moment before pursing her lips, too, and moving towards him.  
  
At this moment the lights returned.  
  
The elevator´s doors opened and Misato and Kaji who had been trapped within the liftcabin  
had quite an interesting view. The same worked for Rei who had just entered the corridor  
and now stopped as if she had run against a wall. The view made something in her chest  
break...  
  
Shinji opened the eyes wide, stumbled back.  
"Ah..."  
  
Asuka turned red.  
"Kaji, it is not like it looks..."  
  
Shinji saw Rei, saw a tear running down her cheek before she turned around and ran away.  
Asuka errötete.  
  
  
***  
  
  
Why? Why? Why? I am crying... this bitch... anger... I am angry... disapppointment...  
I am disappointed... why did he have to touch my heart? Why did I allow him to do so?  
Why am I alive?"  
  
  
***  
  
  
When Shinji, Asuka and Misato returned to the apartment they shared they saw that most  
of Rei´s stuff was gone, on the table was a short note which told them that Rei had returned   
to her old apartment.  
  
"Who would have thought that Wondergirl had such a sensitive heart?" Asuka said what she was   
thinking.  
  
"Shut up!" Shinji screamed. "Shut up!" He ran out of the apartment.  
In front of the house he ran into Kaji who wanted to bring Misato the jacket she had  
left behind in the elevator.  
  
"Shinji, what´s up?"  
  
He confessed Kaji the whole story.  
  
"So. Oh, dear, I guess I understand."  
  
"What shall I do now, Kaji-san?"  
  
"Hm, well... You must know, it is such a thing with women. We human don´t even understand  
ourselves most of the time, how can we really believe to be able to understand others?!  
And sometimes I think of women as a completly different spezies."  
  
"Does this mean you can´t tell me?"  
  
"Ah... I have had some experience of my own. Look, whatever you and Asuka have done, it  
seemed for Rei as if you were cheating on her, as if she can´t trust you anymore, do you  
understand?"  
  
"Yes."  
Shinji lowered his gaze to the ground.  
  
"And that means that you have to tell her that you are sorry first, before you can even  
think about telling her your version of the story."  
  
"But, I..."  
  
"Shinji, it doesn´t matter if Asuka and you did kiss, if you were short before kissing or  
whatever, if you or she did started it, the impression is all that matters."  
  
"Yes, but what can I do to make her listening to me?"  
  
"Bring her flowers, buy her choclate... and if this all doesn´t work you can still fall  
on your knees in front of her. But only if you mean it truely honestly - you would be too  
open for some painful kicks otherwise."  
  
"Yes, thanks, Kaji-san."  
  
  
***  
  
  
"Flowers... choclate... I don´t even know what kind of flowers she liked... or if she eats  
choclate..."  
  
Shinji stood before the run-down building where Rei lived. In the area were some  
construction sides, the noise was all too present. The entry door wasn´t closed, he entered,   
ran upwards the stairs, stopped in front of her door, touched the bell-button.  
  
Nothing, the bell was still defect.  
  
He knocked, several times.  
  
The door was opened a bit.  
  
"Oh, you... what do you want now?" Rei asked monotonously. Her eyes showed that she had been   
crying.  
  
"Rei... I... please, may I enter?"  
  
She stepped back from the door, he followed.  
  
"So, just say what you have to say."  
  
"Rei, I´m sorry."  
  
"You are sorry? Why? Because of playing with me and my feeling? Or because of me catching  
the two of you?"  
Still she was speaking with no emotion within her voice.  
  
"No..."  
He went down on his knees.  
"I´m sorry that I´m so weak..."  
  
She looked at him, blinked.  
  
"Please, Rei, forgive me. For Asuka it was just a yoke, but I, I should have known  
better..."  
  
"Get up."  
Her voice was soft when she reached out for him, pulled him back on his feet and embraced  
him.  
"Just promise me that it never again come to something like this."  
  
"Yes, you have my word of honor." he whispered, his face dug into her short soft hair.  
  
"Good."  
She held him, closed her eyes and let her face rest upon his shoulder.  
  
Time went by...  
  
"Rei?"  
  
"Yes?"  
  
"May I... can I..."  
  
"What?"  
  
"... kiss you?"  
  
She went stiff for a moment, looking into his face.  
"Why?"  
  
"I want to experience my first kiss with you."  
  
"Oh..."  
  
Again an eternity seemed to go by, before Rei closed her eyes and brought her lips towards  
his...  
  
The beaker on the board by the window was nearly full...  
  
  
***  
  
  
"How vulnerable he seems to be, sleeping in my arms... I like him, I can forgive him...  
I love him... I need him... he makes me complete..."  
  
  
***  
  
  
With sorrows in her heart Misato looked into Shinji´s room the next morning. The bed was  
untouched.  
"I´ve failt as his guardian..."  
  
At this moment the apartment´s door was opened.  
  
Misato turned around.  
  
On the doorstep Shinji and Rei stood, each one carrying a bag with her stuff.  
  
Misato took a deep breath.  
"You are back."  
  
Rei came to her, bowed.  
"I am sorry for giving you grief."  
  
"It´s okay, Rei. Welcome back."  
  
  
***  
  
  
Several days later, after a rather long training session Shinji and Rei were sitting in  
a darkened room somewhere within the headquarters on a couch, that is Rei was sitting on  
Shinji´s lap with him embracing her.  
  
In his bureau Ryoji Kaji broadly grinning watched the two teenager exchange deep kisses,   
then he turned to the channel of another of the many survillance cameras he had secretly  
installed within the headquarter and made the regularly survillance camera show a non-  
motion picture of an empty room.  
  
  
***  
  
  
With the coming of the night the buildings of the town started moving out of the ground  
and Tokio-3 came to life with many lights banishing the darkness.  
  
The whitehaired one watched all this from a look-out point on a hill, the white raven on  
his shoulder. But he was able to see still more. Trained sensed felt the lines of chi-  
energy coming from all over the land, crossing within the city, felt the mighty knot in  
the deepth where the dragonpaths crossed.  
"Can you see it, too, Tymael? This place drinks of the quinessence like an abyss. There  
must be something below the city that needs all this power."  
  
The raven croaked.  
  
"I don´t know what it might be. If the Sons of Aether had their laboratories there we would   
know it. I can only hope that it is no construct of the Technocracy, or LaRochelle would be   
reborn."  
  
He trembled under the weight of the memory of the final battle, the battle the Order and the   
western branches of the Tradions had thrown all available force into to prevent the  
Technocracy from gaining controll over all magic within the western hemisphere. They had  
lost the battle and with it the war. He had been the sole survivor, send away by the  
sacrifice of a beloved. But the enemy couldn´t celebrate the victory with the Second Impact   
destroying their plans by smashing LaRochelle as well as most of the other worldly  
constructs of the Technocracy, as well as the fortresses of the Traditions and by seperating   
earth from the spirit realms with the ever-valient Tempest...  
  
Suddenly diArgio started to laugh. Somehow he knew that he wouldn´t return to Vardian,  
the startingpoint of his journey, alive... 


	10. Chapter 09 - Fourth Children

Chapter 09: Fourth Children  
  
  
After a rather strong outburst of violence, resulting in a blackened eye at Rei and a  
dislocated shoulder at Asuka, Hikari help Shinji to mediate between his two fellow pilots.  
In the end the two made peace without many further words. To everyone´s surprise they  
managed to get around with each other quite well afterwards. Rei even asked her roomie  
to join them when they met once again at Kuro´s billiards hall.  
  
In the meantime the others had become used to Shinji and Rei appearing arm in arm and  
exchanging fast kisses when nobody seemed to notice.  
Just Touji always got nervous since Hikari was watching him in a similiar way as Rei was  
watching Shinji. For quite some time she had been cooking lunch for him and of course he  
was able to do the math. Interestingly he found some qualities within himself he never  
would have believed to be there before, shortly, Touji Suzuhara behaved like a gentleman,  
not quite perfect yet, but Hikari still had the rolled-up newspaper just for this case...  
  
Several weeks it has been silent, routine had taken over the daily schedule of the pilots.  
  
Rei laid with closed eyes on her bed and listened to Asuka breathing. When she thought,   
that her fellow roomie had fallen asleep she quietly got up and moved in the darkness  
towards the door.  
  
"Are you going to him again?"  
  
Rei twitched, felt caught.  
"You do not sleep?"  
  
"Of course not, or would I talk to you otherwise?"  
Asuka turned on the light.  
"That´s the third time this week."  
  
Rei stepped back from the door and looked at the redhaired girl that was sitting on the  
bed. Asuka wore a way to big yellow T-shirt and as always her long white gloves.  
"You know...?"  
  
"I don´t sleep too deeply anymore."  
  
"Please, don´t tell anyone."  
  
"I won´t. I just want to know what you are seeing in Shinji."  
  
"He cares for me..."  
  
"And... are the two of you... doing it?"  
  
"Rei blushed deeply.  
"No."  
  
"Really? You are visiting him at least three times a week for more than a half year, what  
are you doing all the time?"  
  
Rei sat down next to Asuka.  
"We... we are talking..."  
  
"Just talking?" Asuka grinned. "I have observed quite other lip-activities."  
  
"It is... he is there for me... I am there for him... His presense lessens my loneliness."  
  
"How can you be lonely? I mean, everybody likes you, Hikari, Touji, Misato... if you had  
eyes for other boys than Shinji you would notice that many of them look after you. And  
somehow I can even understand them."  
  
"Really? Before... Lots of things have changed..."  
  
"Seems so. When I arrive here in Japan I had a completly different picture on my mind. What   
I had heard about you had given me a different impression. And maybe I was a bit...  
unfair..."  
  
"Unfair?"  
  
"I had seen you a rival from the very beginning, the reports said you were... perfect...  
I had expected to meet a doll, not a person..."  
  
"A doll... maybe I was one..." the bluehaired girl mumbled.  
  
"Hm? What did you say?"  
  
"Nothing of importance... Does this mean your picture of my person has changed?"  
  
"Yes."  
  
"So your version of the truth has changed."  
  
"Ah... Rei, no philophical discussions, yes? - So, is Shinji a great kisser?"  
  
"I..." She shallowed. "I think so."  
  
"I´m sorry for what has happened."  
  
"Yes."  
  
"Sometimes I´m quite a bitch."  
  
"Why are you saying this?"  
  
"Because... at some days I hate everything and everybody, even myself. You and Shinji, you  
are lucky."  
  
"Why don´t you go and find a boyfriend for yourself?"  
  
"Who? There are only mutants at school, either perverts like Touji or idiots like Kensuke."  
  
"That´s wrong."  
  
"And if... As you said yourself... that´s my version of truth. I like older men like Kaji..."  
  
"Major Kaji is meeting Misato."  
  
"Yes. And this keeps happening to me always. I loose everyone I like, now or tomorrow...  
as I lost my mother..."  
  
"You are like Shinji... and like myself... we have nothing else."  
  
"You have each other."  
  
"Yes, but each time an angel attacks I´m afraid of losing him... and without him I would  
have nothing..."  
  
"Rei... does this mean that you can´t live without him anymore?"  
  
"I´m only able to truely live since I know him... before I only had my existance as a  
pilot... and I had waited for the day I wouldn´t be needed anymore, the day I was finally  
free to go..."  
  
"You are talking like... like you wanted to die."  
  
"Yes... My existance had no deeper meaning except fighting angels. I still feel the wish  
to end everything, but now I have a reason to keep on living... something to fill the  
emptyness within my heart..."  
  
"We are more similiar than I thought. I have nothing else, too... For ten years I have  
been trained to pilot EVA-02, that´s all I can, all I want to do... because EVA-02 will  
never leave me..."  
  
"Yes, we are similiar. I see."  
  
"You do? I have to show you something first..."  
She put off the long gloves, showing Rei her wrist. Both wrists were disfigured by deep  
black scars.  
"That´s the last memory of my mother."  
  
"How did this happen?"  
  
"She... she committed suicide... and wanted me to come with her... when they found us...  
it... it was already to late to save her..."  
  
Rei didn´t know the exact reason, but she reached out and pulled Asuka close to her, put  
the arms around her shoulders and let her rest her face on her shoulder.  
  
"Why are you doing this? I don´t want your pity..."  
But Asuka didn´t even try to move away from Rei.  
  
"..."  
  
"Why do you have sympathy for me?"  
  
"Do you truely have noone else?"  
  
"I´m grown up at the place of aunt Ann and uncle Wolf... They are not real relatives, but  
they were close friends with my mother... Aunt Ann is my godmother. Uncle Wolf works for  
ODIN, he´s a spy... he is the liaison officer between NERV and the UN-secret service...  
He taught me to use a gun... and fighting with a knife... an interesting way to spend  
your childhood, isn´t it?  
  
"Just talk, I listen."  
  
"They are good people... but... uncle Wolf has much work to do and little time... Aunt  
Ann got very ill before my departure, she´s still in hospital..."  
  
"You are afraid for her."  
  
"Yes... I called my uncle today. She feel worse... And I can go and visit her since an  
angel could attack in the meantime. I didn´t told her goodbye... I wanted, but everything  
reminded me of my mother before her death... I just couldn´t..."  
  
"I understand. It pains your soul."  
  
"Yes, damned."  
A sob accompained her words.  
"I keep telling myself to be hart, unyielding, like stone. But the tears keep coming anyway."  
  
"Tears... I have only cryed once in my whole life... after seeing Shinji and you..."  
  
"Really...? That... I didn´t want that... You have never cryed before?"  
  
"Or laughed..."  
  
"Never?"  
  
"I had no reason. There was noone I wanted to laugh for, noone who made me laugh."  
  
"And he makes you laugh?"  
  
"Yes."  
  
"You childhood must have been even bleaker than mine."  
  
"I had nothing else but my duty... my mission to pilot an EVANGELION... I was born to do  
this..."  
  
"Born?"  
  
"Yes. For ten years there were only the EVAs within my existence... no parents, no friends..."  
  
"And he gives your life a sense."  
  
"Yes. When... as long as I can remember I always felt cold, as if a part of my soul was  
missing, as if I wasn´t... complete. When I am with him I don´t feel cold..."  
  
"You are talking about loneliness."  
  
"Yes."  
  
"Thanks, Rei... Thank you for being there when I was in need of a friend. You should go  
now, he might be waiting."  
  
Rei didn´t move.  
"You are not alone. Nobody can exist without others."  
  
  
***  
  
  
"My existence... I doubt it´s sense, the sense the Commander give to it. I want to live...  
but for what...?  
  
  
***  
  
  
The peace was interupted by the MAGI who had detected a blue pattern.  
  
A black-white ball was levitation over the city.  
  
EVA-01 was leading the attack - and was swallowed within the angel´s shadow.  
Just before running out of energy EVA-01 broke out, ripping the angel apart from within.  
The pilot was salvaged unconcious and brought to NERV-hospital.  
  
  
***  
  
  
Gendo Ikari stood in the doorframe and watched the scene.  
  
His son laid sleeping on the hospital bed, having suffered no bodily damages by staying  
inside the angel. Next to the bed stood Rei with concerned face.  
  
"Rei."  
  
She turned around.  
"Commander Ikari."  
  
"We have to talk."  
  
"Yes."  
She followed him into the corridor.  
  
"You have quitely changed during the last half year. I guess this is a result from your  
stay at Major Katsuragi´s."  
  
"..."  
  
"Rei, Akagi told me that your efficiency didn´t suffer, but even got better."  
  
"Yes."  
  
"Alas, I don´t know if I can agree to your... relationship... to my son."  
  
"It won´t influence my... efficiency."  
  
"Good."  
  
"I will protect him and unit one."  
  
"Yes. The scenario mustn´t be disturbed."  
  
She was tempted to tell him that this was the only reason for her being but couldn´t tell  
him that lie.  
"I will stand virgil until he regains consciousness."  
  
"Is this necassary?"  
  
"He trust me. And it will his trust to grow when I am by his side when he awakens. It  
will help his efficiency. And the cooperation."  
  
"Hm... good."  
  
  
***  
  
  
"The Commander... his friendlyness is only a mask. He doesn´t see me, he sees her, the  
person whose face I have. I am not her. His heart is cold... Lies... Shinji... he doesn´t  
lie to me, I would feel it... I lied at the Commander, tried to sound like him, to prevent  
him from taking Shinji away from me. I would never lie to Shinji... his warmth... I look  
at him and feel desire... I don´t want to lose him."  
  
  
***  
  
  
Shinji awoke when a hand softly stroke his cheek. His sight was blurry, at first could  
only see a bright spot within soft blue, then he could see better.  
"Rei...?"  
  
"Yes. Welcome back."  
She sat on the edge of the back. Maybe for the first time he recognized how much she had  
changed when he saw the caring look on her face.  
"How are you?"  
  
"Tired... and happy..."  
  
"Happy?"  
  
"Yes... That someone... that you are here."  
  
"I... I was worried."  
  
"I... uhm... Rei-chan..."  
  
"Rei-chan? That... that´s nice. I like it."  
  
"I wanted to say that... I... It ´s the first that somebody tells me to have been worried  
for me..."  
  
"I was. That´s truth."  
  
He took her hand and squeezed it softly.  
"Thank you."  
  
"When the angel swollowed unit one... I was full of fear..."  
  
"Fear, Rei? You?"  
  
"Yes, fear to lose you."  
  
  
***  
  
  
When she left the room after Shinji had fallen asleep again, she met Asuka in the corridor.  
  
"Is he okay?"  
  
"Yes."  
  
"That´s good." Asuka seemed reliefed. She had been nearly as worried as Rei.  
  
Rei nodded.  
"Could you... could you wait here until he wakes up and come home with him?"  
  
"I... yes, I can... I can also do the homework here... But why don´t you stay yourself?"  
  
Rei smiled.  
"A surprise, but... don´t tell him, yes?"  
  
Asuka grinned conspirously.  
"Ooo-kay!"  
  
  
***  
  
  
Shinji was surprised to be greeted by Asuka when he left the hospital who told him that Rei   
had to do some tests. When he told Asuka that he wanted to go to the testing area, she nearly   
had to use force to stop him. Before they left the NERV-HQ she left Shinji for a moment  
to call at Misato´s and tell Rei that they were on their way.  
  
  
***  
  
  
The kitchen looked like a battlefield. The sink was full of pots and bowls, the wall full  
of brown stains. Rei sat at the table wearing Shinji´s pink apron that was full of similiar   
spots. Her head rested on her arms, she was sleeping.  
In front of her, on the table, was a chocolate-cake.  
  
Asuka grinned and whispered: "All for you..."  
  
"Uh... yes..."  
His cheeks were bright red, he looked at Rei with loving expression.  
  
The sleeping girl moved and opened the eyes slowly.  
"Oh..."  
  
"Hi, Rei!" Asuka hailed her and sniffed at the cake. "Hm, smells good!"  
  
"I must have fallen asleep", Rei mumbled, stretched and got up.  
  
Shinji removed her apron, let water pour into the sink.  
"The... the cake looks fine. Did you... made it all alone?"  
  
"Yes. For you."  
  
"I... uhm... shouldn´t we wait for Misato?"  
  
"Are you stupid?" Asuka shouted and grabbed a large knife from the drawer. "Until Misato  
is here it will be night!" She handed the knife to Rei and got forks and plates.  
  
Rei cut the cake, silently putting pieces on the plates while Shinji did the wash up.  
  
Asuka rolled her eyes.  
"Argh! Baka-Shinji! Come here, now! Rei does all of this for you and you aren´t even  
grateful!"  
  
"But... I am..."  
When he turned around they could see a lonely tear running down his cheek.  
  
Rei´s eyes widened, the next moment she was by his side, drying the tear with a towel.  
"Why are you crying?" she softly asked.  
  
"Noone did something like this for me ever... noone had been happy to see me coming home  
before..."  
  
Asuka listened to his words and closed her eyes.  
Noone... alone... loneliness... I have had someone to care for me but I wasn´t grateful...   
Mama, why, why did you leave me? And... auntie Ann, I´m sorry, so sorry for not visiting you   
at the hospital...  
  
Without words Rei embraced Shinji and caressed his cheek.  
  
"Thank you, Rei."  
  
"For what?"  
She knew that he didn´t speak about the cage.  
  
"That you are here." He smiled. "When I know that you will be waiting for me than not angel can   
stop me."  
  
"Shhh."  
  
A loud champing came from the direction of the table.  
  
"Oh, the cage is good!" Asuka proclaimed between two bites.  
  
The door of the second fridge was opened and the penguin´s head poked out. He saw the cage  
and pointed at his bowl.  
"Wark!"  
  
  
***  
  
  
Nearly at the same time Touji Suzuhara was chosen as pilot for EVA-03 after the US-american   
branch of NERV had been destroyed during a test run of the S2-machine along  
with EVA-04. Touji´s training mostly took place at the NERV-area at Matsushiro, far away  
from the other pilots. But the identity of the new pilot didn´t stay a secret for long,  
Rei knew it like most things going on within NERV, while Asuka read it rather unintentionally   
in Kaji´s notes. Only Shinji didn´t know it.  
At the evening before the first test of unit three Asuka and Rei were talking about the  
subject in their room with Asuka thinking that it should stay a surprise.  
During the tests an incident happened - EVA-03 was taken over by the angel Bardiel and  
laid waste to the test area before marching towards Tokio-3. Ritsuko Akagi as well as  
Misato Katsuragi were missing in action, so Gendo Ikari commanded a field mission for the  
first time, ordering to make EVA-03 a target until the destruction of the angel.  
All three units were employed to intercepte the possessed unit.  
  
  
***  
  
  
Rei had the first contact with Bardiel. The dark black figure of the EVA appeared between  
the hills, coming towards her with large steps.  
EVA-00 was with an assault rifle on the middle of a street crossing, kneeling behind the  
readied gun, seeing the target clearly with the help of the target-visor.  
  
One shot would be enough to disable the EVA, to destroy it´s core.  
  
One shot only...  
  
But she hesitated.  
  
"Rei, why are you not shooting?" Gendo Ikari asked via radio.  
  
"I..."  
Within the other EVANGELION was a human, a human she knew, whom she counted among her  
friends.  
What if the destruction of the core started the self-destruction-sequence?  
She looked at her hands, within her imagination they were red with blood.  
She felt sick.  
At the same time she felt anger. Why did the Commander, the man who was the second-most-  
important man in her life, send her into battle against another human...? Why did he do  
this? Did he want her to kill, to murder...?  
  
EVA-03 had reached her position...  
  
Rei screamed when the pain started...  
  
  
***  
  
  
The scream of the bluehaired girl came out of the loudspeakers  
  
"Rei!" Ikari´s voice joined the scream.  
  
Shinji shouted her name, turning towards EVA-02.  
"The angel´s mine..."  
EVA-01 started running, toward the black EVANGELION, followed by EVA-02.  
  
EVA-03 let go of the limp EVA-00, the unit´s head dangled around in an unnatural angle.  
  
Shinji opened his eyes widely, seeing that the possessed EVANGELION did break EVA-00´s   
neck.  
"No! Rei!"  
  
Powerful he slammed into the other unit, throw it to the ground.  
Instead for proceeding with the attack EVA-01 stood still.  
"Rei, can you hear me?"  
  
Rei didn´t answer but his father did.  
"We get stable lifesign from her. Go and get the angel!"  
  
"Yes, father..."  
  
"What, Shinji?"  
  
"It´s an EVA... I can see the entryplug... that means someone is inside, a child like me..."  
  
"Shinji, destroy the target!"  
  
EVA-03 slowly rose again. EVA-01 draw it´s progressive-knife.  
  
"Father... I can´t... I can´t fight another human!"  
  
"You have to! I order you to do it!"  
  
"Father!"  
  
The arms of EVA-03 came shooting towards EVA-01 like rubberbands, hitting the chestarmor  
that hard the single elements were broken.  
  
Shinji clenched his teeth, tried to move aside.  
The next attack hit his shoulder, he couldn´t feel his arm anymore.  
  
"Fight!"  
  
He couldn´t. In his imagination the other unit´s pilot had no face but Shinji thought to  
know what he was experiencing.  
"I can´t..." the boy whispered. "I cannot..."  
  
EVA-03 ran towards him, eyes glowing in demonic fire...  
  
A shot...  
  
EVA-03 stopped, pressed a hand against it´s head, against the left eye.  
  
A second shot...  
  
EVA-03 screamed, howled full of pain, when the bullet entered it´s shoulder and exploded,  
ripping the arm out of the socket.  
  
"Shinji, don´t stay there like frozen! Hold it down!" Asuka shouted. "I don´t want to do  
anymore damage!"  
  
Shinji looked at her.  
  
The red EVA-02 stood within some distance, it´s positron-colt in both hands.  
  
"Asuka..."  
  
"Lets do it! We can get Touji out of it!"  
  
Shinji felt horror.  
"Touji?"  
  
"Yes, he´s the pilot! Now, do something, or..."  
  
"Yes, okay..."  
EVA-01 grabbed unit three´s arm, throwing the black EVANGELION down to the ground, pressing   
the knees into it´s back, still holding the arm.  
The entryplug was covered by a spiderweblike substance.  
"That must be the angel! Asuka, come and bring your knife!"  
  
"On my way!"  
  
"Cut the plug free, very careful!"  
  
"Hey, I´m a professional!"  
  
The blade of the prog-knife came into contact with the angel, the white webbings turned  
black, twitched. The EVA started twitching, too, but EVA-01 kept holding it down, while  
EVA-02 kept cutting at the angel.  
  
The entryplug was free. Shinji removed the stoppings, let EVA-01 grab the plug.  
"Touji, can you hear me?"  
  
No answer...  
  
"Target destroyed" Gendo explained via radio. "Medical teams are under way. Shinji, we  
will talk about ignoring my orders when you are back."  
He disconnected.  
  
Shinji put the entryplug down carefully, opened a channel to EVA-02.  
"Asuka, could you look after him?"  
  
"Yes."  
Her face was white.  
"Go and look after Rei."  
  
He nodded, interrupted the connection.  
  
A few moments later he stood in front of Rei´s entryplug that he had removed the same way   
as he had done over half a year ago after the battle with Ramiel, but this time he used  
a large wrench to open the hatch.  
"Rei?"  
  
"Shinji?"  
Her voice was just a low moan what she sat up within the pilot seat and looked into his  
eyes.  
  
He took a deep breath.  
"You are alive... thank god..."  
He climbed into the plug, went down on his knees next to her, caressed her forehead with  
his hand.  
  
"What about Touji?"  
  
"I don´t know... we destroyed the angel and stopped EVA-03... Asuka´s just opening the  
hatch of his plug."  
  
"Help me, please."  
She extended a hand.  
  
He helped her getting up, place her arm around his shoulder, hesitated for a moment, before   
lifting her up and carrying her out of the plug. Rei didn´t protest. She was light,  
nearly as light as a feather, on the other hand he was physically stronger than half a  
year ago, a result his training. He sensed her head resting on his shoulder but was busy  
preparing himself for whatever Asuka did find inside the other plug.  
His worst fears didn´t come true, at least not completly. Asuka stood within the hatch and  
waved at him.  
  
"Come! He needs help!"  
  
"Rei..."  
  
"Yes, put me down."  
  
Carefully he put her down on the ground smile forced and ran to Asuka.  
  
The inside the entryplug of unit three was full of blood. Touji Suzuhara laid unmoving  
on his seat, blood on his face, left arm ripped out of the socket. Asuka already had  
bandage his shoulder, she was full of blood, too.  
"Check his eye!"  
  
"How?"  
  
"Bandaging, we can´t do anymore with our equipment here." Her face bore a determined  
expression while she checked Touji´s shoulder-wound. "Luckily uncle Wolf also taught me  
that... he has lost way too much blood... damned, damned, damned..." With each word her  
voice got louder, after the last word she broke down, started to sob.  
"If I had known that he would suffer the same wounds... I would have never... damned..."  
  
"Asuka..."  
He didn´t know what he should say, what he could say.  
  
The bandage was bloodied rather fast. Asuka applaided further bandages automatically.  
"He must survive... oh, no, Suzuhara, you won´t die under my hands... Hikari would kill  
me..."  
  
Finally doctors and medics arrived, bringing Misato with them. Her right arm war bandaged  
and in a sling, her face battered and bruised. While Touji was brought away and Rei checked   
ambulantly, Misato looked after Asuka until the redhaired girl had calmed down.  
  
Shinji stood on the middle of the crossing, watching the EVAs being loaded upon large  
heavy transport vehicles, but he felt disconnected from reality. He couldn´t banish Touji´s   
face with the empty, bloody eye-socket out of his mind...  
  
A hand touched his shoulder, the touch brought him back to reality.  
"Rei-chan..."  
  
She embraced him without words.  
  
  
***  
  
  
"Rei-chan... his voice calling my name, so full of love... echoing within my head..."  
  
  
***  
  
  
The sorcerer had wandered the city streets for days, seemingly aimless, in reality   
following the dragonpaths which pulsating energies vanished at different places into  
the deepth.  
  
He had watched the living shadow´s attack from direct vicinity, cloaked in mystical  
shields, protected by the powers of the night itself.  
The arrival of EVA-01 did give him a special sensation - Excitement.  
The giant robot was clearly a construct, a being of the Sons of Aether, a golem.  
Should he have found a lost stronghold of the technomantical Tradition?  
The answer was waiting below in the protected and shielded area under the city, within the  
geofront... 


	11. Chapter 10 - Fallen Warrior

Chapter 10: Fallen Warrior  
  
  
Two days later...  
  
Shinji had had to listen to his father giving him a rather long talk about duty and ignoring   
orders, more than once he nearly had left and told his father to put the EVA into the place   
where the sun never shines, but then he had remembered the promise he had given Rei - and to   
himself - never to run away again. And even the longest lecture had it´s end. Gendo Ikari   
decided on Shinji having additional training for the next four weeks and having his pay reduced   
for this time.  
Shinji didn´t really cared for this punishment as long as his father wouldn´t decide to  
change the living conditions of the pilots.  
  
The second day Touji regained consciousness.  
Asuka who had stood virgil before th door of his room in hospital called Shinji first,  
she didn´t feel able to face Touji alone. Then she called Hikari who had asked her to  
do so if Touji awoke.  
  
Shinji was the first to enter the room which Asuka creeping within his shadow.  
"Touji?"  
  
"Hey" the boy on the bed whispered. The sheets were covering his whole body up to the  
neck, showing quite clearly the contures of his body, at the left side the sheets were  
directly touching him, destroying Asuka´s hopes of the doctors being able to reattach  
the arm. His head was bandaged, the face green and blue.  
  
Shinji stepped up to the bed with Asuka staying at the door.  
"Touji... how are you?"  
  
The other one laughed softly.  
"Truely bad. But I am alive."  
  
"I am sorry..."  
  
"It´s okay. But did you kick the angel´s butt at least as hard as you could?"  
  
"He looks worse than you."  
  
"I´ve hoped that you tell me this. It was terrible... I just was within EVA-03 when  
this thing took control. And it let me watch when it destroyed the test area. I was  
unable to do anything... It´s good that it was stopped by you."  
  
"But... if there had been another way..."  
  
"What about Ayanami? Is she okay?"  
  
"Yes. She asked me to greet you. If she makes it she will come and visit you today, too."  
  
"Good... I´ve never thought that I would be vistited in hospital by a girl one day - or by   
even more than one. I´m happy that she´s okay. When EVA-03 broke her EVA´s neck... I would  
have given anything to be in her place... instead of within this... monster..."  
  
"Why did you pilot EVA-03?"  
  
"Yes, why... Since I know how much it hurts you to pilot EVA-01... since I know how much   
pain the EVANGELION can bring... it was because of my sister."  
  
"Your sister? Mari?"  
  
"NERV promised to take over her treatment... so she could walk again... And I would have   
sacrificed anything for her to be able to walk again... And I still would..."  
  
"Oh, Touji..."  
  
"And what about you? Were you hurt?"  
  
"Just a few bruises, nothing to talk about. I am so sorry."  
  
"You already said this. And I told you you don´t have to, okay? It was my decision. Ah,  
Soryu, what about you? Please come closer. I am that full of painkillers that I cannot  
see clearly."  
  
Asuka walked up next to Shinji with reddened eyes.  
"Suzuhara... Touji... I... Shinji said he´d be sorry, but it is I who has to be sorry..."  
  
"Why?"  
  
"I did inflict the wounds on EVA-03 you got, too. I did shoot out it´s eye..."  
  
"Ah, Soryu, don´t start crying, that doesn´t suit you."  
  
"How do you know what suits me?"  
  
"Listen, I will get an artificial arm, they already took the measures. And the eyes...  
well, maybe pirates will come into fashiion soon again... I guess I will look quite cool  
with an eyepatch."  
  
"Within your dreams, Suzuhara."  
  
"Ah, that´s better, Soryu. The only thing of importance is that the angel was stopped...  
and, well, that I am still alive. It will be a bit difficult to play basketball onearmed  
if it doesn´t work out with the artificial limp, but it could have been worse."  
  
"Touji..."  
  
"Yes, Soryu?"  
  
"I want to apologize."  
  
"I told you..."  
  
"No, not because of this, but for think about you to be an idiot. You are a better person   
than I ever was or will be."  
  
Touji closed his eye.  
"Oh, dear. Now I see - I´ve died and gone to heaven, nowhere else Asuka Soryu Langley  
would admit to have been wrong."  
He laughed.  
  
"Argh! Be happy that I wouldn´t beat up an ill person. If you ask me they giving you to  
much of this stuff within the medicaments."  
  
A knock at the door.  
  
"Come in, here´s room enough!" Touji souted with weak voice.  
  
It was Hikari. When she saw that Touji already had two visitors she blushed all over the  
face.  
"Suzuhara-kun..."  
  
"Class-representive. Please enter."  
  
"Uhm, we just wanted to leave" Shinji explained and gave Asuka a push. "Well, Touji, I  
will return tomorrow, shall I bring anything? Maybe a rented movie?"  
  
"Hm, yes, something funny would be great."  
  
"I´ll see what I can find."  
  
They left the room. Outside, in the corridor Asuka leaned at the wall.  
"I didn´t want to... I really didn´t want to hurt him."  
  
"I know. And he knows, too, that´s what´s important. Touji is noone to carry a grudge  
forlong, or he already would have tried to suffocate you."  
  
"You are trying to cheer me up, aren´t you?"  
  
"Uhm..."  
  
"It´s okay. Thanks. But at the moment I don´t feel like being able to cheer up."  
  
"Yes."  
  
"If something like this can happen to one of us it can happen to anybode. What will happen   
next? I always thought myself a hero... the great Asuka Soryu Langley, protecting  
humanity with her big red EVA, beating the crap out of the angels... At the moment I  
just wish to have never even heard about the EVAs..."  
  
"I understand."  
  
"Really?"  
  
"Yes. During the first fights I felt the same... I have never wanted to pilot EVA-01,  
my father forced me to do it... I or Rei who was hurt quite badly this time..."  
  
"That bastard... that goddamned asshole..."  
  
Shinji smiled feintly.  
"Yes. The first two time EVA-01 went berserk, saving my life in the process. I have  
discovered something within myself I´d rather not discovered, an ugly dark side, howling  
for blood... or maybe those emotions came from EVA-01..."  
  
"You believe that the EVAs have feelings?"  
  
"I don´t know... emotions or instincts... I always have a feeling of an echo when I pilot   
EVA-01... The EVAs were created after man´s picture by using human DNA... and  
angel-DNA. Why shouldn´t they have souls or emotions?"  
  
"Shinji, I´ve never thought about this. I only know that if we do not watch each other´s   
back noone does. Who knows about the next angel´s abilities, or the next thing we´ll be  
confronted with."  
  
"Together we stay, devided we fall."  
  
"Yes. Rei, you and me... One for all and all for one."  
  
  
***  
  
  
Nothing happened for the rest of the day, Shinji did synchrontraining while Rei visited  
Touji, meeting Hikari as well as Kensuke at the side of Touji´s bed.  
Asuka was inside her room brooding, during dinner she fell silent after Misato had  
asked about Touji.  
Rei helped Shinji and Misato doing the dished - Shinji washed up, Rei dryed and Misato  
put away the plates - after Asuka had went into her room. Then Rei gave Shinji a short  
good-night-kiss Misato pretended to ignore while broadly grinning inside, and followed  
Asuka.  
  
The redhead laid on the bed and gazed at the ceiling.  
  
"Asuka?"  
  
"Let me alone."  
  
Rei changed, sat down on her bed and watched Asuka.  
  
"Why are you staring at me?"  
  
"You are hurting."  
  
"Yes... but not enough."  
  
"Why, why do you want to suffer?"  
  
"For what I did to Touji."  
  
"I understand."  
  
Asuka sat up.  
"You understand nothing!" she screamed. "He could be dead! I could have his blood on my  
hands!"  
  
"Yes, I undestand. The same thought made me hesitate."  
  
Asuka looked at her.  
"Noone of us had been prepared for something like this... EVA-03 should have fought by  
our side, not against us."  
  
"Yes, noone of us was able to fight the human within unit three."  
  
"Noone except me."  
  
"You couldn´t know what would happen."  
  
"Nice consolation, tell Touji!"  
  
"He already knows."  
  
"Yes. And I acted like an idiot all the time. I should be laying on that bed not he.  
Ah... He did it to have the NERV-doctors help his little sister... that´s such a damned  
heroic thing... he pilots an EVA with the full knowledge of the dangers, of being hurt  
or even killed by an angel´s hands to give his sister a chance. And then he is hurt that  
worse by those who should have been by his side... hurt by me... I am no hero, I have  
just followed an illusion. Shinji was right, the EVA bring only pain and sorrows."  
  
"But without them the first angel would have destroyed us already..."  
  
"Yes. And you wouldn´t have had your job, I know. Rei, could... could you just leave me  
alone? I think I have to cry and I don´t want anybore to watch me."  
  
"I respect your wish."  
Rei got up, went to the door, stood there.  
"Asuka, I... I am here for you."  
  
"I know. Only together we are strong."  
  
"Correct."  
  
"I won´t do anything stupid, just if you are thinking I could."  
  
"Good."  
  
"Suicide is something for those without any perspectives left in life. I may be despairing but   
I am not that despairing. To be honest I nearly wish for an angel to  
attack so I can kick it´s ass. What do you think, some additional time inside the combat  
simulator might be helpful, mightn´t it?"  
  
"Maybe."  
  
"Yes, maybe... Damned, why did this have to happen... and just a day ago Hikiri told me  
that she liked Touji very, very much... Why can I only destroy?"  
She sobbed.  
"Rei, please go, yes?"  
  
"Call me if you need someone."  
  
"I will. Rei... if I have learned one thing today it is never to let an opportunity go  
without making the most of it. We can die anything in battle... or in an accident...  
or somewhere else... if you truely want to do something, do it or maybe you´ll never the  
opportunity again..."  
  
Rei blinked.  
"Yes."  
  
"Thank you for being a friend."  
  
She only nodded before leaving the room, stepping into the corridor and closing the door  
behind her.  
  
Asuka wasn´t able to keep back her tears any longer...  
  
  
***  
  
  
A feint shimmer of light came from unde Shinji´s door, he as still awaken.  
  
Rei took a deep breath. Asukas muffled crying reached her ear, nearly destroying her   
resolution, as she was tempted to turn back and comfort her roomie against her wishes.  
... if you truely want to do something, do it or maybe you´ll never the opportunity again...   
Asuka´s words resounded within her head.  
She nodded lost in thoughts, then did a stp towards Shinji´s door and knocked, once,   
then twice in fast sequence, then three times after a short pause, before entering.  
She knew what she wanted...  



	12. Chapter 11 - Angel of Might

Chapter 11: Angel of Might  
  
  
The next morning at sunrise Rei was sleeping in Shinji´s arms.  
A small bird landed on the window-sill and started singing.  
A single sun-ray tickled her nose. Finally she awoke and leered at the clock.  
"Oh..."  
  
"Hm?" Shinji said. "Rei-chan, what´s up?"  
  
"We shouldn´t have fallen asleep."  
  
He smiled relaxed.  
"After we did I guess it was... understandable."  
  
"Yes", she whispered and caressed his cheek. He answered by pulling her back into his arms  
and embracing her softly.  
  
"If this moment could only last forever... Rei-chan are you happy?"  
  
She thought for a moment, came to the resolution that she felt quite happy.  
"Yes."  
  
"Me too, beloved."  
He kissed her on the lips.  
"I don´t want to loose you... never... I know it since the fight with Ramiel."  
  
"I know... truth..."  
  
"You know?"  
  
"I remember... your lips when you brought me back... your words..."  
  
"Ah... you never said anything..."  
  
"There was no reason; why talking about the obvious? But you were wrong."  
  
"Wrong?"  
  
"You do not need my strenght. Your strenght originates here."  
She place a hand on his chest above his heart.  
"With this strenght you could form the world."  
Rei broke the embrace, sat up, reaching for her nightie and put it on.  
"I have to see after Asuka, she was quite down yesterday."  
  
"She didn´t feel weel?"  
  
"No. But she wanted to be alone."  
  
He remembered the moments after his first fights inside EVA-01 after having finished the  
opponent and the heart beating slower again, remembered how much he had been in pain. But  
he had nobody come near him, had wanted to be alone.  
"I know how she feels."  
  
"Yes. Don´t forget - this afternoon we have tests." She bended down and gave him a long loving   
kiss before getting up and leaving the room. She just looked shortly into the room  
she was sharing with Asuka who was laying on the bed knees drawn up to her chest, arms  
around her knees, snorring, before entering the bathroom.  
When she came back Asuka had turned to the other side. Silently she moved through the room  
and laid down on her bed eyes gazing into the far away, a feint smile on her lips.  
  
At noon Zeruel attacked, the angel of might. And everything changed...  
  
  
***  
  
  
The angel had appeared above Tokio-3 without warning, broken through the lines of defense  
and made his way right into the geofront, smashing armor layer after armor layer.  
  
At this time only Asuka and Rei were at the headquarters while Shinji visited Touji at  
hospital, of course he left for the geofront as soon as the sirens started to wail.  
  
Misato decided to intercept the angel inside the geofront near the central shaft. EVA-00  
was still damaged beyond it´s natural regeneration abilities. Gendo ordered Rei to use  
EVA-01, time was running short and he couldn´t afford to wait for his son.  
  
Asuka felt terrible after a mostly sleepless night. And the few hour she had slept had been  
of nightmares. Her synchronrate was low, EVA-02 just followed slowly and moved very wooden.  
  
Major Katsuragi, after recognizing this, changed her plan and ordered Asuka to take position  
behind the cover of an artificial hill while having the complete arsenal brought to her.  
  
The red EVA waited within it´s sniper position for the enemy, it´s pilot cursing her own  
weakness.  
  
Meanwhile the synchronisation between Rei and EVA-01 was started.  
  
"Entryplug is inside unit one. LCL initiated." Maya Ibuki reported.  
  
"Close A10-nerve connections!" Akagi ordered the operators.  
  
The screen showed Rei suddenly folding up as if she felt terrible pain within her stomach.  
  
"Pulse frequency falls. Unit one denies neuralconnections!"  
  
"I can´t believe it..." Ritsuko mumbled.  
  
At the commander´s area Fuyutsuki looked at Gendo from aside.  
"Ikari..."  
  
"Yes. She denies me..." He stiffened. "Abort startsequence and start anew. Prapare a dummy-  
plug additionally. Unit one must be readied, one way or the other!" Gendo nodded at his  
second-in-command. "You are in command, I´m in the hangar."  
  
Within the entryplug Rei was collecting all her strenght. During the first try to initiate  
the startsequence she had believe to have run again a brickwall. The EVA had not only completly   
ignored her orders but blocked and thrown back.  
Finally her heartbeat had calmed.  
  
Akagi announced another try.  
  
"Ready." Rei confirmed.  
Again she reached out for the EVA-consciousness, tried to make the giant move.  
  
A wave of denial hit her.  
  
She was breathing hard, thought her heart would burst within her chest as fast as it was  
beating suddenly.  
"Why?" Rei whispered.  
  
"Rei, I abort", Ritsuko said.  
  
"No, I have to make it", she whispered and turned of the radio, concentrating again by  
projecting the picture of a smiling Shinji Ikari before her mind´s eye.  
  
It worked, the opposition lessened.  
  
Why? it echoed from the deepth of the EVA-consciousness.  
  
At first she believed it an echo of her own thoughts, then a wave of emotions rolled over  
her, dragging her away...  
  
  
***  
  
  
The angel entered the geofront, smashing through the last layer.  
  
Asuka shot her positronrifle, emptied the complete clip into Zeruel´s AT-field without piercing   
it. Careless she threw the rifle away and grabbed another one, repeating the action  
again without success.  
  
"The passive AT-field is too strong for the positronbullets!" Misato explained.  
  
"Yes, I see it - now!"  
She shouldered a rocketlauncher, fired. The impact made the giant loose a bit of it´s balance.  
"Verdammter Bastard!" (trans: Damned bastard!)  
  
The last hit got her Zeruel´s attention. The next moment he tackled her. EVA-02 reacted  
way too slow. Paper-thin whip-like arms hit the red EVA, ripping it´s arms off and slicing  
through the chest armor.  
For a moment Asuka felt pain, terrible pain, then the synchronconnection was interrupted.  
Before loosing consciousness she noticed the entryplug beeing evacuated.  
  
  
***  
  
  
Gendo stood on the catwalk next to unit one, staring at it through his dark glasses.  
  
"Father!"  
  
The older Ikari turned around, watched his son climbing up the ladder, still wearing his  
civilclothes and out of breath.  
  
"You are late."  
  
"Yes..." Shinji stopped pantingly, looked at EVA-01. "Who... is inside the entryplug...?"  
  
"Rei." Gendo turned towards the next intercom. "Akagi, interrupt the start, Shinji has arrived."  
  
"No reaction. EVA-01 denies all signals."  
  
"What?"  
  
Misato entered the connection.  
"The angel has beaten EVA-02."  
  
"Asuka!" Shinji said.  
  
"Pilot was salvaged."  
  
"That doesn´t matter now!" Gendo bellowed. "What about Rei?"  
  
"No contact. - Commander, leave the hangar, the angel...!"  
  
At this moment Zeruel broke through the wall, hesitate for a second, before moving slowy  
towards the EVA-cages.  
  
Shinji stared at the giant.  
  
Gendo shouted at EVA-01: "Act! Do something!"  
  
Debris fell from the ceiling. Shinji looked up, saw a part of the construction giving way.  
"Father, move!" he screamed and threw himself forward, pushing his father out of harm´s way,  
hit the catwalk. The last thing he saw were some dark shadows falling towards him...  
  
  
***  
  
  
Gendo Ikari use the railing to regain his balance, a piece of metal had hit his shoulder,  
his arm got limb.  
"Thanks..." he mumble while turning around.  
His eyes grew wide.  
  
Shinji was buried under the debris, only a twitching hand was visible.  
  
"No... Shinji!"  
Something inside him broke. The angel seemed to vanish out of existence while he started  
digging.  
Then he threw the head around and screamed at EVA-01.  
"Are you happy now? Is it this was you wanted?"  
  
And EVA-01 answered with a loud roar, broke the bindings and grew to it´s full size.  
It roared the boy´s name...  
  
  
***  
  
  
"Shinji!" Rei screamed.  
Just a moment ago he had fought against dragging coming out of the EVA-consciousness´ deepth   
when the duel for control suddenly had been ended - by EVA-01.  
It had been the same moment Shinji had vanished under the falling debris.  
  
No...  
  
Zeruel came closer.  
  
Stop it!  
  
"Yes..." she answered to the strangly familiar voice coming out of the EVA´s deepth. "Help  
me!"  
  
And light filled the entryplug...  
  
  
***  
  
  
With open mouth Ritsuko Akagi was staring at the monitors.  
"Synchronisation with EVA-01 closed. Synchronrate increasing rapidly... Maya, are the  
numbers correct?"  
  
"Yes, Sempai. Synchronrate at 150% and growing..."  
  
"Yes, Rei, go and get it!" Misato encouraged the pilot.  
  
Like lightning EVA-01 jumped out of it´s LCL-pool and attacked the angel.  
  
The angel whipped with it´s arm at EVA-01, the right arm simply splittered at contact with  
the EVANGELION´s AT-field.  
  
"Field-strength not measurealbe anymore", Maya whispered. "Synchronrate at 200% and increasing!"  
  
The purple hand of EVA-01 grabbed the angel´s other arm below the shoulder and ripped it  
without any problems of the socket, beating Zeruel with it´s own arm, chasing it right  
through the hangar.  
  
Gendo, still busy with digging Shinji free, ignored the wavelike drop of blue angelblood   
hitting him.  
  
Out of Zeruel´s back grew several smaller arms, started beating at unit one, cutting the  
maintenance cable. Now EVA-01 only had energy for about a minute of combat activity.  
Rei was determined to use this time by throwing the angel onto on of the elevatorplattforms  
and nailing it down with one knee while being carried to the surface and smashing the EVA´s  
fists into it.  
  
Zeruel´s arms hit the chest armor of EVA-01, broke several segments.  
  
They reached the surface within a small wood.  
  
Rei ripped a tree out of the ground, gored the angel with it. Zeruel laid unmoving.  
  
Time was running out...  
  
EVA-01 fell down down to the enemy.  
  
"Synchronrate beyond 400%. No changes!"  
  
"Even with the EVA´s energy spent?" Ritsuko asked.  
  
As if it wanted to mock them EVA-01 rose the very same moment and howled with triumph.  
And then it turned at the body of it´s fallen enemy and started feeding...  
  
  
***  
  
  
Gendo Ikari waited in front of the ER. There was nothing else he could do. Fuyutsuki had  
everything under control, while Katsuragi commanded the salvage of EVA-01.  
On the other side of the door was his son. Shinji have saved his life and Gendo felt obliged   
to wait...  
  
Finally the doors were opened and his son brought out, head thickly bandaged.  
  
"And, doctor?"  
  
The doctor nodded.  
"Lots of bruises, cuts, a concussion and a broken arm, quite complicated break. The boy was  
lucky."  
  
"So he won´t be able to pilot the next days."  
  
The doctor move a step away from Ikari.  
"Yes... you could formulate it... this way..."  
  
"You can tap into all available ressources to fasten his recovery."  
  
"Yes, Commander." 


	13. Chapter 12 - Yui

Chapter 12: Yui  
  
  
Rei found herself sitting in a chair on a seemingly endless green meadow at a picknick  
table, a small teacup in her hand.  
  
Opposed to her sat a woman with a strangly familiar face, it was her own face, just older.  
The woman was pouring tea into her own cup.  
  
Rei stared at her older copy... No, not a copy, the original, the model she had been patterned   
after.  
"Where are we?"  
  
"Inside EVA-01. You have been absorbed."  
  
"You are... Yui... Yui Ikari..."  
  
"Yes, that´s me... or that was me before I was absorbed by EVA-01."  
  
"Yes."  
  
"And you are Rei."  
  
"Yes."  
  
"Shinji often thinks of you."  
  
"..."  
  
"I can hear his thoughts when he pilots EVA-01. You mean a lot for him."  
  
"Yes."  
  
"So... What are your feelings for my son?"  
  
"He´s my world."  
  
"Isn´t this a little less?"  
  
"No, it´s enough for me."  
  
"And what if something happened to him?"  
  
"I don´t know... I want to be with him..."  
  
"I see."  
  
"Thank you, Ikari-san."  
  
"Ah, call me Yui, since you are part of the family now."  
  
"Family..."  
  
"I just can´t have my grandchild´s mother call me by my family name."  
  
"I don´t understand..."  
  
Yui smiled.  
"Within your belly a new life is growing."  
  
Rei place a hand upon her belly.  
"That´s... strange..."  
  
"Hm... I can see your memory, it doesn´t seems to be that strange. Shinji did to happen on  
a similiar way himself..."  
  
"I... I must be by his side..."  
  
"Yes."  
  
"But... I remember... he..."  
  
Yui seemed to listen to a voice only she was able to hear.  
"He´s alive..."  
  
"I am... happy."  
  
"Yes. But you are right, he needs you."  
  
She looked Yui directly into the eyes.  
"He needs you, too, Yui-san."  
  
"But only one of us can return. Unit one will give free only one soul."  
  
"Yui-san..."  
Rei lowered her head, closed her eyes.  
"Take the chance."  
  
"You do love him that much?"  
  
"... yes."  
  
"Rei, I want to return... to my husband, to my son... but I can accept this. I can allow  
you to bring this kind of sacrifice!"  
  
"I do it for him."  
  
"But you have to think about your child."  
Yui shook her head.  
  
"You know who I am..."  
  
"I know who you are... and I also know what you are not."  
She got up, walked around the table, stopped next to Rei, placed a hand upon her shoulder.  
"It was a pleasure to meet you, Rei. And I wish to give you a gift..."  
  
  
***  
  
  
Four weeks had gone since Rei had been absorbed by unit one.   
  
Either Shinji or Asuka, one of them had always been there at the hangar, even sleeping in a  
sleeping bag on one of the catswalks.  
Sometimes even Gendo Ikari had appeared inside of the hangar, to watch EVA-01 in silence,  
while Doctor Akagi had made a plan to save Rei...  
  
"Needles inserted, connections installed. Electromagnetic pattern at 0, -3 fixed!"  
  
"Ego-borderpulse connected!" May reported.  
  
"Understood. Start salvaging!"  
  
"Signal-1 sent and recieved. Signal-2 und -3 sent. No resistance by EVA-01!"  
  
"Start phase 2!"  
  
"Ego-border is inside a loop!" Maya shouted.  
  
"Try to synchronize all patterns! There is an error..."  
  
Misato stepped up to Akagi.  
"What does this mean?"  
  
"Failure."  
  
Shinji turned around from his viewpoint at the large window.  
"What...?"  
  
"Do not disturb now! Maya, try to correct!"  
She entered several commands into the computer.  
  
"Corepulse at plus 3."  
  
"LCL-temperature increasing. 36°, 38, 41, 58, 76, 97, 106..."   
  
"Stay at this point." Ritsuko ordered before entering further commands.  
  
"Values are critical. Plus 0,5. 0,8. I can stop the increase!"  
  
"What does this mean?"  
Akagi stared through the window.  
  
"EVA resists all signals! Pressure increases within the entryplug! Rei´s egoformation  
is shifting! Like we had an echo... or a second impulse... wait, make that three..."  
  
"Stop everything! Interrupt energy transfer to EVA-01!"  
  
"Entryplug is ejected!"  
  
Misato ran to the window, stared at the hissing entryplug looking out of EVA-01´s neck.  
The visual transmission still showed an empty plug.  
"Ritsuko with all you science, aren´t you able to rescue her?"  
The plug started moving.  
"EVA throws out the entryplus!"  
Misato ran to the door, down the stairs, into the hangar, climbed upwards the ladder leading   
to the catwalk where the plug lay, with Shinji close behind her.  
  
The plug had opened, hot LCL-fluid was everywhere.  
  
Shinji stopped, leaned against the railing and started to cry.  
  
Misato slowed down, nearly stumpled into the still growing puddle of LCL.  
"No... Rei!"  
  
The fluid started to move, drew itself together, formed a body...  
  
Misato opened her eyes widely.  
"Shin-Shinji!"  
  
Next to the entryplug laid a nude bluehaired girl, Rei Ayanami...  
  
  
***  
  
  
Rei touched her face, followed the lines with his fingertips, oblivious to her surrounding.  
  
Only when Shinji shouted her name and embraced her with his good arm, the other one still in a  
sling, she reacted.  
  
"Shinji..." she whispered, slowly raising a hand an d caressing his cheek. "It´s you... it´s   
really you..."  
  
"Yes, Rei... you are back..." He looked over his shoulder. "Misato, Ritsuko really made it!"  
  
"Yes..." Misato whispered, whipping away the tears from her eyes.  
  
At this moment Gendo Ikari stormed into the hangar, abruptly stopping when he saw the girl  
within his son´s embrace, when he saw the loving expression on Rei´s face, the love she felt for  
his son. He frowned, pressed the lips together and turned around.  
  
  
***  
  
  
"Fuyutsuki?"  
  
"Yes, Ikari?"  
  
"It seems that Rei isn´t useful anymore for the scenario."  
  
"I saw it on the screen. Shinji and Rei truely seem to have come closer."  
  
"That never should have happened. I should have never listened to Akagi!"  
  
"Ikari, Rei still can pilot unit zero."  
  
"But if she devellops too many... too strong emotions... she won´t participate willingly during  
the scenario´s endphase."  
  
"What are you planning, Ikari?"  
  
"Rei is replacable."  
  
"Ikari..."  
Kozo Fuyutsuki´s face expressed the terror he felt at this moment.  
  
Gendo did his hand thing, staring across his knuckles at the main-screen...  
  
  
***  
  
  
Misato entered Ritsuko Akagi´s bureau.  
"You wanted to talk to me, Ritsuko?"  
  
"Yes..."  
Without further words Akagi pushed a file across the table.  
  
"What´s that? Rei´s medical files?"  
  
"Read the last report. It was written this morning, right after we got her out of unit one."  
  
"Yes... physical status... oh, my god... Ritsuko, did you check on this?"  
Misato turned chalk-white.  
  
"Three times. While a wrong diagnose is still possible in this early state the chance of three  
misleading test is..."  
  
"I didn´t expected something like this..."  
  
"I did, in a way, Misato."  
  
"Is Rei still able to pilot EVA-00?"  
  
"It´s just the second month, I´d say that her state will start to affect the synchronisation  
in three to four month. Of course I will have to change the LCL-mixture..."  
  
"Ritsuko, you should listen to yourself... we are talking about a fifteen year old girl, not a  
lab rat. Can we even take responsibility..."  
  
"Misato, don´t tell me anything about responsibility! You never disagreed with us making children  
pilot the EVAs and sending them into battle!"  
  
"Yes... you are right... I didn´t... I didn´t because of my own cowardice..."  
  
"Hm, who tells the Commander that his own son made his precious Second Children pregnant?"  
  
"Are you sure, that Shinji is..."  
  
"I already said that there might be some misleading informations but you did see the two of them  
yourself... who knows how long that´s already going on... just remember the morning after your  
little victory party. You wanted to give him the talk, didn´t you?"  
  
"I did tell him..."  
  
  
***  
  
  
"Pregnant?" Gendo Ikari roared.  
  
Misato pulled the head between the shoulders while Ritsuko took a step back.  
"Yes, Sir."  
  
"How could this happen, Major? Why did you let it happen? I´ve placed Rei in your care - and   
now?"  
He threw some files to the floor, Rei´s medical report among them, and got up, with sparkling  
eyes behind his dark glasses.  
"Go! Leave my bureau! Ou of my eyes, both! I will decide later about the consequences of   
your... failure..."  
  
Katsuragi and Akagi used their chance and ran.  
  
Gendo clenched the fist, smashing them again the massive table-top until they were screaming   
with pain.  
  
"Ikari..." Fuyutsuki whispered startled.  
  
He looked up.  
"The scenario is breaking apart. We wil have to replace Rei by another clon."  
  
"You can´t be serious."  
  
"Why not? The prophecy is of greater importance."  
  
"It is the child of your son... your grand-son, or grand-daughter!"  
  
"A necessery sacrifice."  
  
"No." Fuyutsuki looked Gendo directly in the eyes. "Don´t do it. Don´t throw away the last of   
your humanity. Do you truely want to meet her at the day of the prophecy carrying that kind of  
guilt?"  
  
"Fuyutsuki, I... the scenario..."  
  
"The endphase can wait. The prophecy talks about twelve angels, three still to appear."  
  
"And the old men? They won´t accept a delay... on the other hand... we might find a reason...  
the scrolls are still quite open for interpretation..."  
  
"Good, Ikari. So Rei and her child will live?"  
  
"Yes."  
He supported himself on the table´s edge.  
Suddenly he smirked.  
"I will become a grandfather..."  
  
  
***  
  
  
In Misato´s company Rei returned to the apartment.  
"Why didn´t Shinji come?"  
  
"He´s quite busy, Rei." Misato grinned. "He was at the hangar every day."  
  
"I... know..."  
  
"Yes?"  
  
"I think... I could feel his presence, like a light in the darkness..."  
  
"You two did get really close."  
  
"Yes."  
  
"The Commander wasn´t quite happy about that fact."  
  
"I know."  
  
"Good... no, not good. Why couldn´t you keep you fingers from each other?"  
  
"After... after what had happened to Suzuhara-kun... Life can be over anytime..."  
  
"I guess I understand..."  
  
They arrived at the door, that was opened from inside, in the doorframe Shinji stood and   
beckoned them to enter. Misato grin grew broader and broader.  
  
In the corridor a banner hung, declaring in huge letter: Welcome back, Rei! And exactly these  
words Asuka, Touji, Hikari and Kensuke were shouting who stepped into the corridor like   
following a secret command.  
  
Shinji embraced Rei and whispered the welcoming words into her ear.  
  
Rei smiled, stepped away from him to embrace each one of the others in turn, stopped before   
Touji.  
"Suzuhara-kun..."  
  
Touji grinned, showing his left arm.  
"They gave me the artificial limb three weeks ago, it nearly feels like the original."  
Demonstrating he clenched and unclenched the fist, bowed and straightened the arm, finally   
placed it casually around Hikari´s shoulders.  
"Without our class-representive´s support I maybe didn´t make it."  
  
"Uhm..." Hikari said and smiled sheepish.  
  
  
***  
  
  
The party was over, the guests had left. Asuka did already go to her room.  
Just Shinji, Rei and Misato still were at the living-room, Shinji holding Rei´s hand.  
  
Misato got up, stretching her back.  
"Ah, time to go to bed."  
  
"Uhm, yes." Shinji mumbled, exchanged a long look with Rei, let go of her hand, gave her a kiss  
on the cheek and left for her room.  
  
Rei looked down to the floor.  
"I will leave, too."  
  
"Wait, Rei." Misato whispered. "Listen, I know of your state..."  
  
Rei looked up with surprise on her face.  
"What..."  
  
Misato placed a hand on Rei´s belly.  
"I am talking about this."  
  
"You... you know?"  
  
"Ritsuko checked you up and did a pregnancy test. As I already said, the Commander wasn´t quite  
happy."  
  
"That... that..."  
Rei started to sob.  
"Now I am useless for him... he will replace me..."  
  
Misato didn´t know what she was truely talking about, only sensed her despairation. So she sat  
down next to Rei and placed an arm around her shoulders.  
"I am here for you."  
  
Eternity seemed to pass until Rei reacted.  
"Thank you..."  
  
"Shinji doesn´t know, does he?"  
  
"No, I had no opportunity to tell him."  
  
"You have to tell him."  
  
"Yes. How will he react?"  
  
"I don´t know... The old Shinji, like he was when he first came to Tokio-3 over a year ago,   
always ran way when facing problems. But he has changed... and you are the reason... I think,  
he really loves you, not just your face or your body but you."  
  
"My soul..."  
  
"Yes."  
  
"I will tell him. May I...?"  
  
"Yes, just go... and, Rei... if I had been in a similiar situation... and Kaji... ah, I only   
want to say they I am able to understand you..."  
  
"Yes."  
She got up, did a last look back, saw Misato´s encouraging smile before entering Shinji´s room.  
  
Misato´s smile vanished, was replaced with thoughtfulness...  
  
  
***  
  
  
"Rei-chan?" Shinji whispered when the bluehaired young woman entered his dark room.  
  
"Yes, it´s me. Shinji, we have to talk."  
She was completly earnest.  
  
"Uh, yes, just a moment."  
He turned on the lamp and moved aside.  
  
Rei sat down on the bed, blinked before laying down next to him.  
"Shinji... do you love me?"  
  
"Yes. More than my life."  
  
She looked into his eyes, saw only love and honesty.  
"Maybe that will change after I told you what I have to tell you..."  
  
"What, Rei-chan, what do you want to tell me?" he asked startled.  
  
Without words she took his hand and placed it on her belly.  
  
"Rei-chan?"  
  
"Shinji..., our night together... before the angel attacked... there were consequences..."  
  
He withstood the urge to pull back the hand.  
"What... Rei-chan... do you want to tell me that... we will have a child?"  
  
"We... you did say we..."  
  
"Yes... I should have been more careful..."  
He embraced her, caressed her hair.  
"We... our child..."  
  
"Do you regret it?"  
  
"No... It´s just... I never thought about... we are still young... I have never thought about   
becoming a father... I am just fifteen... you are, too..."  
  
She cramped.  
"You don´t want our child..."  
  
"But I want it... I just have to get used to the thought."  
  
"I was afraid..."  
  
"I won´t let you alone... never... I had fear to have lost you when EVA-01 did absorb you... but  
now you are back... the two of you..."  
  
She kissed his lips, disheveled his hair.  
  
  
***  
  
  
Misato stood within the dark corridor in front of Shinji´s door and peaked her ears. She felt   
relief when she heard a soft long moan, but then she once again had to face the difficulty and  
the earnestness of the situation - and the fact that her coinhabitants were having more sex than  
she had herself...  
  
  
***  
  
  
At the next day´s afternoon Kaji asked Asuka for her cellphone, connected it to his lapton and  
dialed the first of the saved numbers. It took an eternity until somebody answered.  
  
Larsen... Asuka?  
  
"No, Commander, it´s me."  
  
Yes.  
  
"Is the line secure?"  
  
Yes.  
  
"I am sending you the results of my investigations."  
  
Good.  
  
"Sir, the situation is earnest. I have to ask for support."  
  
I... I will send you somebody...  
  
"Thank you."  
He transmitted the data.  
  
Major, you are using Asuka´s phone.  
  
"Yes, Sir."  
  
She shall call me back, I have to talk to her.  
  
"I will tell her. Is it important?"  
  
Yes. My wife died this night.  
  
"I... Sir, I am sorry."  
  
Thanks... just tell her that I have to speak with her.  
  
  
***  
  
  
"Yes, uncle..."  
Asuka interrupted the connection and let herself fall unto her bed.  
  
  
***  
  
  
"Kaji?"  
  
"Yes?"  
Ryoji Kaji put the wateringcan aside and turned toward his visitor.  
  
Shinji Ikari stood at the edge of Kaji´s small garden.  
"Can you talk?"  
  
"Of course. - You didn´t tell anybore about this place, did you?"  
  
"No, that´s our secret."  
  
"Good. Look, Shinji, if anything should happen, say, if I had to leace quickly... could you look  
after my melones?"  
  
"I... what should happen?"  
  
"Nothing, I just want my work not to be in vain if anything should happen to me."  
  
"Uhm, I don´t understand, but yes, I will look after your plants."  
  
"Thanks. So, what´s on your heart?"  
  
"I... Kaji... I have a problem..."  
  
"Ui, that sounds serious!"  
  
"Rei and I..."  
  
Kaji grinned.  
"Between the two of you sparks are flying quite hearty, aren´t they?"  
  
"You know...?"  
  
"You weren´t quite discreet... ah yes, if only I could be your age again... The first love, the  
first kiss..."  
  
"Kaji, it´s more serious between her and me."  
  
"Nice... so I´ll have more women for myself, eh?"  
  
"You don´t take me serious."  
  
"But I do, that´s just my way, sorry."  
  
"No, please... uhm... Kaji, I need your advise... Rei is... we did..."  
  
Kaji frowned.  
"You did... and she is...?"  
  
"She... I... I am going to be a father..."  
  
"Oh, dear... didn´t you use protection?"  
  
"N-no."  
  
"Hm, I see. And now you want to ask me if I knew a doctor who..."  
  
"No, no!"  
  
"Good. That soothes me."  
  
"I love Rei... with all my heart... I finally have a reason to pilot EVA-01, to walk into   
battle... and a reason to live... and I love our child... I know, it sounds strange, I don´t   
even know if it´s a boy or a girl... but it is my child... and Rei´s... how could I not love   
it already... but..."  
  
"But?"  
  
"I´m afraid."  
  
"I guess that´s quite okay. You are both still young, and a child is the great responsibility...  
and the burden in these times... well, on the other hand... I feel a bit of envy for you..."  
  
"Why?"  
  
"I would like to have children by myself, but I haven´t met the right one, yet... that means   
I´ve met her already, but, hm..."  
  
"You are talking about Misato."  
  
"Yes, Katsuragi..."  
  
"Why don´t you asked her?"  
  
Kaji laughed.  
"Yes, why not... maybe... no, not maybe... I am afraid, too, afraid of the answer... of being  
pushed back..."  
  
"Kaji, that... I am afraid of becoming like my father... that I might leave our child alone one  
day..."  
  
  
***  
  
  
Gendo Ikari lowered the medical file doctor Akagi had brought him.  
"And that had been checked?"  
  
"Yes, Gendo. I can´t explain, but Rei´s DNA-sequence was changed drastically in some parts. It  
seems that EVA-01 did not let go of the Lillith-DNA, that might explain the problems we had with  
salvaging Rei."  
  
"You have no other explanation?"  
  
"No, nothing."  
She shook her head.  
"Even the human part has been modified..."  
  
"But, why? And way did you do the tests?"  
  
"I know whose clon Rei is... It was because of the child´s state but on the other hand I dare   
to say that there won´t be any complications."  
  
"How heavy are the changes?"  
  
"That´s not Yui anymore. She might be her cousin of the third degree now. And I simply can´t  
explain it."  
  
"Ritsuko, before Rei can be put on duty again I want some more tests... and the child shall not   
be troubled."  
  
"So we lost Rei as a pilot."  
  
"Yes... we lost her."  
  
Ritsuko had troubles to suppress a satisfied smile  
"I will think of it."  
  
"How are the EVAs?"  
  
"Unit one has been put on ice, after it absorbed the angel´s S2-organ the readings are unstable.  
EVA-01 seems to have an unexhaustible source of energy now."  
  
"As expected..."  
  
"Unit zero has regenerated completly, as has unit two. Unit three needs another week until  
the damages are fully regenerated, there was quite a lot of contaminated tissue."  
  
"Yes, yes..."  
  
"A strange ironie... four EVAs and only two pilots..."  
  
"And still three angels... You are right, it´s an ironie. - or how would you call it that the  
comitee will send us a new pilot?"  
  
"Oh... as if they knew it..."  
  
  
***  
  
  
Asuka was at the fitness center, beating at a punching ball when she was called to the hangar.  
A short time later Blue Alarm was given - Angelalarm...  
  
EVA-02 was already ready. Asuka was equipped with one of the new assault-positronrifles and send  
to the surface.  
  
The angel looked like a phonix, the legendary bird of fire.  
  
"I got it..." Asuka whispered. "But it is too far away."  
  
"You must be patient." Misato explained.  
  
"Of course." She sat back, stared angryly at the zoomed-up angel, projecting her complete anger  
at the image.  
"Come, you lame angel! Move so I can kick you sorry ass! You are even slower than a slug!"  
  
It didn´t help, the angel made no move to change it´s position.  
  
"Misato, any ideas?"  
  
"I am thinking about it."  
  
"If he doesn´t come to us we will have to come to him."  
  
"But within the air EVA-02 would be unprotected."  
  
"Yes." Again she angryly looked at the angel. "Could take some time. And not replacement. Where  
are Rei and Shinji?"  
  
"EVA-01 is still on ice. And Rei is not fit for service."  
  
"Ah, why didn´t you tell me earlier?"  
  
In this moment the angel acted. Suddenly EVA-02 was bathed in bright light, that also filled out  
the entryplug. Very loud music, a Hallelujah coming from countless throats, dampened the voices  
coming out of the radio.  
  
Asuka clenched her teeth until it hurt, squeezed the eyelids shut.  
The angel had come closer...  
"Die!" she screamed, pulling the trigger. Again the positronbullets couldn´t pierce the passive  
AT-field.  
She pressed the hands against the ears and turned her eyes away, but the light was directly   
shining right into her soul.  
  
"No!" 


	14. Chapter 13 - Tears and Anger

Chapter 13: Tears and Anger  
  
  
Asuka remembered...  
  
... being in her mother´s arms...  
  
... visiting her mother at hospital after the breakdown...  
  
... her mother telling her to come with her to heaven...  
  
... the pain when her mother opened her wrists with the knife...  
  
... her mother dangling from the ceiling with empty, broken eyes  
  
"No! I don´t want to remember!"  
  
... her aunt Ann laying on her bed, face white as chalk, to weak to even wave at her to   
say good bye...  
  
... her uncle, telling her that her aunt had died...  
  
... a cementery... the grave of her mother...  
  
... the deep scars covering her wrists...  
  
... blood, red blood... her own blood...  
  
"No, why do you show me this?"  
  
... Rei she had played several bad pranks...  
  
... Rei running away with tears in her eyes after watching her going to kiss Shinji...  
  
... EVA-03 pressing the hand against it´s empty eye socket...  
  
... EVA-03 having the arm ripped out of the shoulder socket by the exploding bullet...  
  
... Touji, laying unconscious inside of the entryplug covered with his own blood...  
  
... Touji´s empty eye socket staring at her with accusation...  
  
... blood shooting like a fountain out of Touji´s shoulder...  
  
"My work... I can only destroy... Why can I only destroy? I don´t want to be reminded!"  
  
Again the hospital, again her mother, playing with a doll, calling it Asuka with monotonous   
voice...  
  
Hands at her throat...  
  
Cold stell touching, cutting her wrists  
  
Tear...  
  
Loneliness...  
  
"You bloody bastard! Why doesn´t anybody help me?"  
  
Rei embracing Shinji...  
  
Shinji, after Rei´s return...  
  
Those were good memories, since she had felt happy for them.  
  
"I have to cling to those, there are not only bad things..."  
  
Her uncle and herself practicing shooting...  
  
Her uncle, her aunt and herself at the North Sea´s coast...  
  
Asuka heard herself laughing...  
  
Misato greeting Asukas happily when she came home...  
  
Rei, giving her support...  
  
Touji telling her that he´s not angry...  
  
Hikari telling her that she likes Touji...  
  
"You are not alone" a voice whispered from the deeth of the EVA, giving her strenght and  
confidence.  
  
"Do you like this? Do you want to see this? Willst du mehr davon?"  
(trans.:"Do you want more of it?")  
All the anger and tensing that had built up within her during the last months finally  
erupted, targetting the angel still hovering above.  
  
"I am Asuka Soryu Langley, foster-child of Ann and Wolf Larsen. And at the moment my whole  
existence has just one meaning - to kick your ass until your light comes out of your ears!"  
  
EVA-02´s AT-field started to glow, formed spines like a hedgehog´s. And one of those spines   
disconnected, fired into the sky like a burning arrow, piercing the angel´s AT-field and   
Asuka´s tormentor itself.  
  
Arael went silent...  
  
Asuka felt as if she no strenght left anymore. The same moment EVA-02 went down unto it´s  
knees the black giant of EVA-03 appeared at the surface, catching her from falling.  
  
"Who...?" Asuka whispered weakly.  
  
"It´s me..." Shinji answered. "Rest..."  
  
The words carried with her into unconsciousness...  
  
  
***  
  
  
When she awoke she was breathing fresh air instead of LCL, the hatch had been opened and  
Misato was standing by her side, looking at her questionly.  
  
"Are you alright?"  
  
"Yes... I think so... only a headache. At least it´s silent again..."  
  
"We were afraid of you greatly. Shinji even piloted EVA-03 to rescue you... but it hadn´t  
even been necessary. How did you do this? How did you destroy the angel by manipulating  
your AT-field in such an aggressive way?"  
  
"I was... angry... very angry..."  
  
"You´ve been angry before, most of the time..."  
  
"Now I feel no anger anymore. The last time I was that calm had been just before my mother  
died..."  
  
"Ritsuko wants to run a few checks."  
  
"Ja." (trans.: "yes")  
  
  
***  
  
  
"Are you okay?"  
  
Asuka looked up, Shinji stood in front of her, still wearing his plugsuit. She nodded.  
"You went out to save me..."  
  
"Ritsuko had problems to overwrite EVA-03´s programs or I would have been there faster..."  
  
"Good."  
  
"What´s good?"  
  
"To know that they wouldn´t have sacrificed me."  
  
"Asuka, please don´t talk this way."  
  
"Why not? It weren´t your memories the angel dissected."  
  
"..."  
  
"Gone home, go to her. Rei will be waiting for you already."  
  
"Asuka, if you need somebody to talk..."  
  
She smiled.  
"I´ll make it. Did you already forget that I´m Asuka Soryu Langley? Whatever happens,   
I will alway get up again."  
  
"As you wish. But you are not alone."  
  
"I know, Rei told me the same some time ago. You two are quite similiar in certain ways."  
  
Akagi entered the corridor.  
"Asuka, would you please come in?"  
  
"Yes, at once. - See you at home, Shinji."  
  
  
***  
  
  
Again and again Asuka looked at the belly of Rei who sat next to her.  
  
"What is?" Rei finally asked, her cheeks turning slightly red.  
  
"Ah... when will it happen?" Asuka couldn´t stay silent any longer.  
  
Shinji choked.  
  
Rei blushed deeply.  
"You know about it?"  
  
"Yes, Ritsuko couldn´t keep her mouth shut... she´s quite rotating."  
  
The young Ikari coughed, Rei moved around the table and patted him on the back.  
  
"So, Rei, when will it happen?"  
  
"I... in a little more than seven months."  
  
"Wait, let me recapture... It did happen night before the angel smashed it´s way into the  
geofront, didn´t it?"  
  
"Yes", Rei answered and lowered her eyes.  
  
Asuka grinned.  
"Did you already come up with a name?"  
  
"Uhm, no", Shinji said  
  
"So... if it is a girl... Asuka would be a nice name, wouldn´t it?"  
She stroke a pose.  
"With this name it surely will become a really petty girl!"  
  
Shinji and Rei stared at her with amazement. Then Rei started laughing softly with Shinji  
joining her a second later.  
  
"Hey, why are you laughing?"  
  
"It´s just... Touji can a similiar suggestion yesterday, only about Touji being the right  
name for a strong and good-looking boy..." Shinji giggled.  
  
"Argh! Suzuhara and his big mouth!"  
Asuka joined the laughter, feeling free.  
  
When all three heavy breathingly stopped laughing Asuka placed an arm around Rei´s   
shoulders.  
"It´s quite... unexpected... very unexpected... but if you... if the two of you need my  
help, you can count on me."  
  
"Thank you, Asuka" Rei whispered with emotion. "I´m sorry to be unable to fullfill my  
pilot duties anymore."  
  
"You don´t have to."  
  
"I didn´t want to have you carry the burden alone... it just happened..."  
  
"Ah, Rei, such a bloody angel is no problem for Asuka Soryu Langley. I kicked his sorry  
ass from here right to Berlin!"  
  
"Good to see that you are alright."  
  
"Hm, maybe we could talk about that later, yes? I don´t want to spoil my own positive mood  
right now. Are the two of you planning to... eh, well, before..."  
  
"What?" both asked synchronly.  
  
"Well, I don´t know how you do it here in Japan, but shouldn´t you be married before the  
child is born?"  
  
Shinji looked at Asuka thoughtfull.  
"Uhm... that´s right..."  
He turned towards Rei and took her hand.  
"Rei-chan... Rei Ayanami, uh, would you... you now in about six months I will turn sixteen  
and you a few days later, too... and with parent´s permission... ah... would you..."  
  
Asuka hit her forehand with her open hand.  
"Shinji, do it the right way or don´t do it! No half things!"  
  
He swallowed, looked into Rei´s scarlett eyes.  
"Rei, would you marry me?"  
  
Asuka started breathing again, couldn´t help but smile while watching the scene.  
  
Rei felt tears in her eyes, blinked a few times.  
"Yes..." she whispered softly.  
  
  
***  
  
  
The next day Armisael hovered over the city.  
Gendo Ikari ordered all three EVAs to deploy, just EVA-01 stayed frozen. The program of  
EVA-03 was rewritten with Shinji´s data while the dummyplug was tested for the first  
time with unit zero.  
  
Shinji wasn´t feeling well inside EVA-03´s entryplug, to strong were the memories of Asuka  
and himself finding Touji after fighting the possessed EVANGELION. And he also feared that  
EVA-03 could be possessed again or somehow else leave his control.  
One the other side EVA-03 reacted without problems to his commands, it seemed to have no  
personality of it´s one, as Shinji sometimes thought to have felt one within EVA-01.  
  
"Asuka, are you alright?" he tried change his line of thoughts by opening a comlink to  
EVA-02."  
  
"I... no problems. It´s just strange to see EVA-03 again. Look after yourself, Shinji,  
will you? I don´t want to have to bring Rei any bad messages."  
  
He swallowed and felt even worse.  
"Yes..."  
  
"On position!" Misato ordered. "Fire at the angel as soon it is within reach. Unit zero  
will act as lead to bait the enemy!"  
  
The plan was perfect, too perfect...  
  
Hidden by a cloak of shadows the whitehaired wanderer watched, gaze fixed on the angel  
while weaving arcane patterns with his hands into the air.  
Suddenly he did a step backwards, having recognized the sigil upon the umbrood.  
"Alessando..." he whispered. "So, it is your doing..."  
He tried to establish mental contact with the creature from the spirit realms to learn  
more about it´s origins and the way it as come into the mundane realm, felt a pure primal   
desire. The angel´s mind was like a child´s, looking for someone to play.  
His eyes widened with terror. Forcefully he reached out towards the angel, pushed it away  
with all his might just before it touched his own mind, raised his mental shields to the  
limit, started praying...  
  
The angel rotated, looking for a new target, finding one in the baiting unit one with it´s   
lowered AT-field. It swooped down from the sky upon EVA-00, started to connect to the EVA,  
transforming it´s tissue after it´s own pattern. The dummyplug reacted unsteady, at the  
same time at of the 47 remaining Rei-clones within terminal dogma opened their eyes and  
started to wail with pain, but nobody heard them...  
  
"The angel starts to take control of EVA-00. We are losing contact to the dummyplug!"   
Misato´s tactical assistant, Makoto Hyuga, shouted.  
  
"What shall I do? Dismember unit zero?" Asuka asked via radio.  
  
EVA-00 stumbled with outreaching arms towards the other EVAs.  
  
"I guess it wants to unite with EVA-02 and -03 now!" Ritsuko shouted.  
  
Gendo frowned.  
"Initiate selfdestruction sequence."  
  
"You want to sacrifice EVA-00?" Misato asked.  
  
"Just do it. Give orders to the other two units to use their AT-fields to damp the explosion!"  
  
EVA-00´s selfdestruction destroyed the angel too and layed waste to more than a quarter  
of the city.  
  
"We now only have two ready EVAs left as long as EVA-01 stays deepfrozen", Fuyutsuki  
mumbled.  
  
"I know." Gendo folded his hands. "Another pilot was found, he´ll arrive in short time."  
  
"Why wasn´t I informed earlier?"  
  
"SEELE sends him."  
  
"I see. A spy."  
  
"Or worse..."  
  
"Ikari, you are not thinking about... we can´t eliminate a child!"  
  
  
***  
  
  
Winter diArgio found himself near the shaft into the geofront opened by Zeruel.  
His head was aching, without his mastery of air itself, his mystic shields and spells   
of protection the explosion would surely have ripped him apart.  
  
The whole city was in chaos. He sensed his chance to enter the geofront unseen.  
  
A small gesture made him hovering a few inches above the ground, then he stepped into the  
abyss, levitating slowly downwards followed by his raven familiar, his animal companion,  
cloaked in shadows, invisible for cameras and sensors...  
  
  
---  
  
  
nearly everything and everyone is in place for the final, just a little bit more...  
next: Kaworu... 


	15. Chapter 14 - Kaworu

Chapter 14 - Kaworu  
  
  
Asuka was first to cross the new pilot´s path.  
  
Kaworu Nagisa stood seemingly lost in front of the security gates, ID-card with indision  
in hand. His hair was grey, his skin was pale and his eyes were red, at first Asuka felt  
tempted to looked for other similarities between him and Rei. He turned around and smiled  
friendly.  
  
"Hi. Could you please help me? ... eh, say, you don´t happen to be Asuka Langley, the  
Second Children, do you?"  
  
Asuka was surprised, it was the first time somebody was recognizing her. At the same time  
she felt flattered and stroke a sexy pose.  
"Yes, that´s me, pilot of EVA-02."  
  
"My name´s Kaworu... Kaworu Nagisa. I was send to NERV to replace the pilot of unit...  
ah... unit three."  
  
"I know. Pleased to meet you, Kaworu."  
  
"I´m pleased to meet you, too."  
He bowed slightly.  
  
"Where are you from?"  
  
"Osaka-2, I feel lucky to have my way up to this point."  
  
"Did nobody wait for you at the station?"  
  
"My train... I took an earlier train."  
  
"Oh. Come, lets enter."  
Well, he´s nice...  
  
  
***  
  
  
The next day school started again as the holidays were over.  
  
Shinji and Rei sat side by side and hand in hand, never to be seperated again.  
  
Behind them Touji sat, a black leatherpatch covering his empty eye-socket. The artificial  
hand that poked out of his sportjacket´s arm was pale. He kept steady eye-contact with  
Hikari who stood by the door talking to her girl-friends a bit insecure.  
  
Asuka entered class, when she saw Touji her face lost all colour. With eyes cast down she  
hurried to her desk.  
  
Touji broke the eyecontact to his girl-friend, looked sorrowfully at Asuka who did´t meet  
his gaze, looked at Kensuke who sat behind him.  
  
Aida shrugged.  
  
The girls by the door started moving, hurried to their desks, Hikari standing next to her  
desk.  
  
The teacher entered, it wasn´t the old sensei who had spent the lessons with memories  
about the Second Impact, but a man aged between fourty and fifty with snowwhite hair and  
icegrey eyes, wearing shirt and jeans, jacket over his shoulder, briefcase in the other  
hand, a friendly smile on his face, no one from Japan but a European.  
  
Hikari fulfilled her duty as class-representive by having the class stand up, bow and  
sit down again.  
  
The new teacher placed his briefcase on his desk and the jacket over the chair.  
"Good morning. Your old teacher retired early, I am his replacement for the next weeks,  
the name´s Winter diArgio."  
He wrote his name in hiragana at the board.  
"If this is too difficult Sensei should be enough. Well, and now I´d like to know about  
the subjects you talked about last year. Class-representive..." he looked at his notes,  
"Hikari Horaki... would you please give me the information?"  
  
Hiraki got up again.  
"Yes, Sensei. We´ve talked about Second Impact."  
  
"And what else?"  
  
"Uhm..."  
  
He smiled, touched his throat.  
"If I am not speaking loudly enough please tell me, my voice is not as well anymore as  
it was once."  
  
"No, that´s not, but Second Impact had been the only subject."  
  
"Oh... well, lets improvise... I guess you all can see that I am not from here. I think  
we start working with your knowledge and move on to the years following the impact, the  
years of war and rebuiling."  
  
Shinji´s desktop screen told him that he got mail.  
  
Does he look familiar in your eyes, too? - Kensuke.  
  
Somehow... a bit...  
  
And even the name, like the wizard in this anime.  
  
You are watching something like this?  
  
Eh... research.  
  
Yes, sure.  
  
Strange coincidence. He even whispers the same way.  
  
Maybe...  
Shinji felt the shadow cast upon him and the sudden silence within the room.  
He looked up, right into the new teacher´s eyes.  
"Uhm..."  
  
"Mister... Ikari, correct?"  
  
"Yes..."  
He jumped to his feet.  
  
"If you happen to be not interested in my lessons please at least pretend."  
  
"Uhm... Sensei, I am sorry. I will pay attention now..."  
  
"Good."  
The teacher turned around and returned to his desk.  
  
The further lesson went without incidents. Sensei diArgio made it interesting and alife,  
a welcome change compared to the monologues of the old teacher, crowned by him giving no  
homework for the next day.  
  
  
***  
  
  
"Tell me... didn´t the new... teacher... seemed fimiliar?" Shinji managed to say while  
exchanging kisses with Rei, both sat on the couch snuggled up to each other.  
  
"Somehow..."  
  
"Kensuke has..."  
  
"Now you think about Kensuke?" she asked with pretended indignation.  
  
"No..." he whispered and pulled her backwards.  
  
  
***  
  
  
Winter opened the door to his small apartment at the edge of Tokio-3 even before his  
visitor had touched the bell-button.  
"Please, come it, Brother Shan."  
  
The young monk bowed with unmoving face, casted a short glimpse at the symbol above the  
door.  
"I am honored to be allowed into your sanctum, Magus."  
He wore Jeans and a wide T-shirt to better join anonymity.  
"The ancient one sends me."  
  
"Of course."  
  
"I shall assist Thou."  
  
Winter frowned.  
"Well... so the situation must be even more earnest than I estimated when the Brotherhood  
risks one of it´s few students left..."  
  
"The ancient one has talked to the other master."  
  
"He has contacted the other side of the Tempest?"  
  
Yes, using the Akasha."  
  
"I see... Hm, at the moment I have no use for thou here except as a messenger between this   
place and the temple."  
  
The other one nodded, looked around within the main room of the apartment, that resembled  
a monk´s cell.  
"Did thou make progress?"  
  
"I entered the geofront. The chi-lines all end below the pyramid of NERV. I am guessing  
that at least part of earth´s living energy is used to power the EVANGELIONs."  
  
"We already guessed after the first appearance of these... beings... that they might be  
constructs made of science, technic and magic."  
  
"They are, there is no doubt left anymore. I think them to be made by a Son of Aether,  
please asked the Sifu if the Brotherhood still has contact to the Technomancers."  
  
"I will, Magus."  
  
"Thanks."  
  
"But I can already tell thou, that there´re only a few members of this Tradition left  
within all Japan. As far as I know they´ve sought out no new students since the death  
of Doctor Yui Ikari more than ten years ago."  
  
"Ikari?"  
  
"Yes. Our informations tell us that she had founded the project: EVANGELION but couldn´t  
harvest the fruits of her work anymore."  
  
"Hm... Alas I couldn´t enter the pyramid itself without the use of quintessence to cloak  
my presence, security within the headquarters is way to strong. My magic is handicapted  
within the presence of too much tech."  
  
"Yes."  
  
"During the last angel attack I learned the identity of the being who called the umbrood  
to earth."  
  
"Who is it?"  
  
Winter´s face darkened.  
"My son..."  
  
"Your..."  
  
"Not by blood, but by adoption... a failed apprentice of mine, a former student who has  
turned nephandi and serves the Powers Below now."  
  
"The ancient one must know..."  
  
"Yes, Thou will tell him. And tell him that I will call the Traditions to arms again   
soon..."  
  
Shan looked into the other´s face, saw no emotions or mercy, only determination, saw the  
general of the Ascension War standing before him.  
  
The mage´s face didn´t change expression when he started to speak again.  
"I have assumed a new identity as a teacher to get into contact with the EVA-pilots. And  
I found something truely interesting - about twenty potential apprentices, all of them   
nearly Awakened..."  
  
"Students? And in such numbers?"  
Shan´s eyes widened.  
  
"So, did I manage to surprise thou?! Yes, the three pilots and their fellow students  
all have the potential to work true magic... just a little push would be enough to Awaken  
their gifts... And it seems that they were brought together by purpose since the other  
classes are only containing sleepers."  
  
"I... I have to tell the Sifu. Twenty students..."  
  
"Enough to secure the Brotherhood´s future... enough to revive two, no, three Traditions  
with fresh blood. Shan-san, in the name of the Order of Hermes I have to claim a part of  
the students, I am not allowed to ignore such an opportunity."  
  
"Yes..."  
The monk sounded cold as ice, but he felt cold since the temperature´s within the room  
were next to the freezing point, emanating from the whitehaired´s body.  
"I will bring the Sifu your message."  
  
"Yes, do it. I´m sure that he will understand my reasons."  
  
  
***  
  
  
Shinji was inside of the changing room and just put on his plugsuit.  
  
From across the curtain came a low happy humming.  
  
"Asuka?"  
  
The humming stopped.  
"Yes?"  
  
"You sound happy."  
  
"I am! Did you already meet the new pilot - Kaworu?"  
  
"No. How is he like?"  
  
"Very nice, I showed him the city yesterday."  
  
"Ach, that´s the reason you came home late."  
  
"Oh, did you wait for me?"  
  
"Uhm, yes."  
  
"Had I known I would have told... but I thought you be busy otherwise."  
  
At this moment he was lucky about the curtain between the changing areas since he blushed  
deeply.  
"Uhm..."  
  
"Maybe we could do something together once, all four of us, I mean."  
  
"Hm, yes... that..."  
  
"Pilot Ikari, please come to the Commander´s office, Pilot Ikari, please..." it came  
out of the speakers.  
  
Shinji stiffened, drawing loudly breath.  
  
"Oh dear... now comes the big thunderstorm..." Asuka mumbled.  
  
"I... I am going... if... if anything should happen..."  
  
"What are you talking about?"  
  
"I... ah..."  
He was afraid, terribly afraid...  
  
  
***  
  
  
His father stared at him while doing his hand thing.  
  
Shinji stood in front of the Commander´s large desk, forcing his knees to stop shaking.  
"Father, you wanted to talk to me?" he finally managed to say after the silence had  
become unbearable.  
  
"Yes. I know of you and Rei... and her state."  
  
"Uhm... yes..."  
  
"Do you even know what you have done?"  
  
"Father, I love her and I..."  
  
"And what? You are not even sixteen yet as well as Rei is. Do you think, I cared for her  
all her life..."  
  
"What? Cared? I have seen where she had used to live! You threw her into a hole! And what  
about me? No, father, not this time... I love her... I´ll always stay by her side... I  
will always support her... and our child. And I will marry her."  
  
"Marry?"  
  
"Yes, as it has to be, as I want it to be, whatever, with or without your permission."  
  
"Shinji, what are you talking about?" Gendo whispered, seemingly confused by his son´s  
words. In front him no longer a shy boy stood he could manipulate but more of an image  
of himself as he had been long ago, an image of what Yui seen in him...  
  
"I am talking about, father, if you care for your grandchild to be born legal or illegal,  
that´s all. And don´t even think about separating Rei and me..."  
  
The older Ikari only nodded.  
"I... you can go now."  
  
"Yes."  
Shinji turned to leave.  
  
"Wait."  
  
Shinji stopped. Within his father´s voice wasn´t the usual cold, not the usual roughness.  
"What?"  
  
"I just wanted to tell you... I won´t place any obstacles within your path."  
  
"Good."  
  
"And... that will be only one more angel, then it will be over."  
  
"Just one angel? Only one more enemy and we will be free?"  
  
"Yes, my son."  
  
"Thank you, father."  
  
  
***  
  
  
After leaving the bureau Shinji leaned at the wall and stared at his shaking hands.  
He had withstood his father, had shown strenght... for Rei, for their child...  
  
  
***  
  
  
"Professor..."  
  
"Yes, Ikari?"  
  
"It´s over soon."  
  
"Yes, Ikari."  
  
"Yui will be free... just one more angel, the angel of free will, the Dark Savant."  
  
"Ah, are you sure about this part of the translation? The text had been damaged there."  
  
"The prophecy talks about fourteen angels angels and the angel of humanity, who elso  
should the Dark Savent be, if not the final messenger?"  
  
  
***  
  
  
Again furniture had been move inside the Katsuragi apartment, Asuka had moved into Shinji´s   
room while he and Rei were moved together into the bigger room of the two,  
Misato wasn´t seeing any sense in forbidding it, since she would have had to throw on  
of them out of the apartment or stay virgil all night long on the corridor.  
And as Kaji had said when he had appeared to help, the damage already had happened.  
  
Shinji would soon turn sixteen and Misato conspired with Asuka to surprise him with a  
party.  
  
Asuka was feeling quite happy, she had become close friends with Kaworo, alas, she had  
listened to Misato giving her the talk and had taken it to heart.  
  
Rei´s state slowly got obvious and couldn´t be hidden below wide clothings anymore.  
Ritsuko Akagi examinated her regularly but found no complications.  
  
Seven month were gone since Zeruel´s attack, each day Shinji had been hoping for the  
final angel to come so the whole story would come to an end, he felt motivated like never  
before. During the last weeks he had met his father several times within the NERV- corridors,   
three times Gendo Ikari had asked him about Rei, the last time showing him a  
document signed by him explaining that Rei whose guardian he was, was allowed to marry  
Shinji after she had turned sixteen. All in all Shinji felt to better get along with his  
father slowly...  
  
  
***  
  
  
"Ahhh..."  
Rei stretched, her large belly was quite visible.  
  
Shinji softly caressed her belly, planting a soft kiss just above the navel.  
"Go to bed again, beloved, it´s still early in the morning", he said while putting on  
his trousers.  
  
"No, I´ll come with you... The Commander wants to speak with me."  
  
"Father... so..."  
  
"Don´t be afraid, yes?"  
  
"Yes."  
  
Misato drove them and Asuka, even caring for tempolimits and traffic-rules. When they  
reached the NERV-pyramid the sirens just started wailing - angelalarm...  
  
  
***  
  
  
Two large ravenbirds followed Misato´s car, one white as snow, the other one coalblack.  
When the car was loaded at a cartrain they landed on the bumper.  
While the white feathered Tymael started cleaning his master stood completly still.  
So Winter diArgio, having taken on the form of his familiar, reached NERV-headquarters...  
  
  
***  
  
  
"What did happen?" Misato shouted when they arrived at the EVA-hangargates, among them  
a heavy breathing Rei with deeply red-turned face.  
  
Akagi directed Hyuga and Aoba who were using heavy machines to break open the locked door.  
"We´ve been locked out, the electronic doesn´t work, the whole computersystem is down  
with the exception of the MAGI."  
  
"And the angel?"  
  
"The MAGI sensed a blue pattern within the hangar."  
  
"Goddamned... between us and the EVAs..."  
  
"Nagisa was inside the hangar..."  
  
"Kaworu!" Asuka terrified. "Lets hope that he´s okay!"  
  
"Asuka", Ritsuko turned towards the redhead, "Kaworu was the only one inside... Probably  
he is the angel...!"  
  
"No! That can´t be! Kaworu can´t be an angal..." Asuka whispered. "I have to get in,  
he might be in danger!"  
  
Something pounded heavily against the gate from the other side.  
  
"Back from the door!" Misato shouted and pushed Asuka aside.  
  
Shinji grabbed Rei and pushed her behind himself, while Makoto and Shigeru hurried to the  
other side.  
  
The gate was thrown from it´s angles.  
  
EVA-03 moved through the opening. And in front of him Kaworu Nagisa hoovered...  
  
"Kaworu!" Asuka shouted.  
  
The greyhaired boy looked at her for a moment, said with a voice that seemed to come from  
the botton of a deep shaft: "Don´t try to stop me!"  
The union of EVa and angel turned towards the central shaft.  
  
Misato stared at them with eyes wide open.  
"Asuka, take unit two and follow him!"  
  
"Kaworu... er ist... wieso?" Asuka whispered, tears rolling down her cheeks. "Ich dachte...   
er wäre mein Freund..."  
(trans.: "Kaworu... he is... why?" / "I thought... he was my friend...")  
  
Misato grabbed her shoulders.  
"Asuka, calm down! If you don´t stop him it´s all over, do you understand?"  
  
"I... yes..."  
She blew her nose, pressed the lips together and ran into the hangar, towards the red  
EVA-02.  
  
Out of a side-corridor Gendo Ikari appeared.  
"I´ve already been informed about the situation. The angel mustn´t reach the Terminal  
Dogma."  
  
"Yes, Commander", Misato agreed.  
  
"Unit one is to be unfrozen at once. - Shinji, are you ready?"  
  
"I..." He looked at Rei, knew that he had a reason to fight, nodded. "Yes, father."  
  
"Good. Do your best."  
  
"Father..."  
  
"Good luck."  
  
Shinji nodded again, squeezed Rei´s hand and followed Asuka.  
  
Gendo Ikari turned towards Rei.  
"Follow me."  
  
"Where?"  
  
Her question took him by surprise since he was used to her following his orders immediately.  
"Into the Terminal Dogma... I´m sorry..."  
And it sounded honestly...  
  
  
***  
  
  
EVA-02 had followed EVA-03 into the shaft shortly before EVA-01 had left the hangar, it´s  
armor was still covered with frost and it´s were movements still stiff, but it had also   
climbed into the shaft.   
Unnoticed within all the chaos two ravens descended into the deepth with elegant movements...  
  
Gendo lead Rei to his personal express elevator, the only connection to the Terminal  
Dogma beside the central shaft. While they were waiting for the doors to open, gunfire  
was heard.  
  
Men in black combatsuits entered NERV-headquarters, shooting at everything within their  
paths. The still disabled security systems didn´t react.  
  
The elevator doors opened the same time three of the intruders spotted Ikari and Rei.  
  
"Watch out for you and the child, good luck", Gendo whispered and pushed Rei into the  
lift, turned towards the armed men.  
  
"Comman..." Rei´s shout was cut off by the closing of the doors.  
  
  
***  
  
  
At his bureau Major Ryoji Kaji loaded his official gun and a second weapon while watching  
the intruders´ advancements on the screens.  
  
"Clever plan... Nagisa disables the securysystems, distractes the guards and baits the EVAs   
into the shaft, while several BlackOps-teams enter the headquarters... really clever... so   
it begins..."  
  
The only things the intruders didn´t calculated into their plan were the several addional   
cameras Kaji had installed and connected to the MAGI-computer Melchior he controlled partly   
since the energy-failure and the following reboot.  
  
Kaji put his official weapon into the shoulderhafter and the other gun into his pocket,  
equipped himself with a headset.  
"Melchior?"  
  
Ready.  
  
"Keep informing me about the invaders´ movements."  
  
Understood.  
  
Then he climbed on top of his chair, stretched for the ceiling, removed a part of it,  
pulled himself into the crawlspace, placed the part of the ceiling back into it´s place  
and entered the labyrinth of the pyramid´s maintenance shafts.  
  
  
***  
  
  
The other side of the world, ODIN-headquarters, Wolf Larsen´s bureau:  
  
Wolf Larsen closed his eyes when a light on his table turned red.  
  
"What does that mean?" his visitor asked and finished his cigar.  
  
"Director Kiehl just deleted my connection to HEIMDALL. I guess that within the next  
minutes a team of assessins will storm this bureau. You should leave."  
  
The other lightened a new cigar.  
"No."  
  
"Are you sure?" the cyborg asked while getting his gun out of the desk´s top drawer and  
checked the clip.  
  
"Completly." the other man said and drew his own gun, placing it on the table.  
"That´s the way I have always imagined my final day... not dying on my bed of age or illness   
but standing with my boots on."  
  
"I see. I guess that´s Kiehl´s reaction at me sending ODIN´s raven to eleminate the members   
of SEELE."  
  
"So you made a decision."  
  
"There was no other way. SEELE´s plan might reunite me with my wife, but what about all  
the other human? People I have sworn to protect due to the ODIN agenda?"  
  
And so they awaited their murderers...  
  
  
------  
  
  
next: prepare for blood, guts and all the other icky-stuff... 


	16. Chapter 15 - Tabris

Chapter 15 - Tabris  
  
  
Asuka slowly caught up with the slow moving EVA-03, on the other hand she was running  
on battery energy and running out of time.  
  
Suddenly unit three stopped, turned around.  
"I told you not to follow me", Kaworu´s voice thundered. "I don´t have the wish to hurt  
you, Asuka, or anybody else, but I have to fulfill my mission."  
  
The tactical screen represented him as a blue-pulsating spot, destroying her last doubts.  
Again she felt tears running down her cheeks, but just concentrated upon her newly   
awakening anger.  
"I will stop you, Kaworu, if you do not give up."  
  
"I can´t give up, it is my fate. I am sorry, Asuka..."  
With these words he hovered aside to the shaft´s wall and downwards then, while unit three   
attacked the red EVA.  
  
EVA-02 had already drawn it´s progressive-knife, slashed at the black EVA´s arm, cutting  
through muscles and tendons, moving aside gracyfully.  
  
Asuka kept an eye on the battery-countdown while start her counterattack, completly calm  
inside, beyond the surface of the bubbling anger within, like her uncle had taught her.  
  
A heavy fist hit EVA-02´s left shoulder, dislocating it´s arm, at the same time Asuka  
screamed inside the entryplug, unable to feel her left arm anymore.  
She dodged another attack, used an opening within unit three´s defense and cut into it´s  
head with the progressive-knife.  
  
EVA-03 stopped. It´s eyes stopped glowing. He lost it´s balance, fell into the shaft,  
dragging EVA-02 with him into the abyss...  
  
They seemed to fall for eternity.  
  
Asuka listened to herself screaming, then the connection to EVA-02 was suddenly interrupted,   
so she felt the impact on the ground weakened by the LCL instead of firsthanded via the   
synchronisation-link.  
  
  
***  
  
  
Ritsuko Akagi jumped back when a bullet hit the wall next to her head, but at least she  
had managed to interrupt the synchronisation between Asuka and EVA-02.  
The screen showed the countdown running out.  
  
Maya Ibuki gave a loud scream.  
  
Slowly she raised her hands and turned around.  
  
The black clothed elite soldier at the door beckoned them with his gun to follow him.  
They were brought into Gendo Ikari´s large bureau, where most of the bridgecrew already  
had been assembled.  
  
Gendo bleeded form his nose, his right cheek was heavily bruised.  
  
Fuyutsuki was holding his left arm, his sleeve showed a dark hole with a slowly growing  
deep red spot around it.  
  
Makoto Hyuga had an ugly laceration above the brow, Misato Katsuragi a broken lip.  
  
Behind Ikari´s desk a skinny figure with dishevelled shoulderlong black hair sat, maybe  
an european, mayve an asian, the thin goatie was the only sign that it was a member of  
the male half of the human species. His eyes ware like black coals. The stranger wore a  
black suit below a grey coat, he had the feet placed on the table and scanned each   
newcomer with piercing gaze.  
A feint smile appeared on his nearly non-existing lips.  
His examination ended with Gendo.  
"So, I finally meet you in the blood, Ikari."  
  
Gendo pressed a hankerchief at his nose.  
"Who are you?"  
  
The other one removed the feet from the desk.  
"Me? I... I am SEELE..."  
And he started laughing.  
  
"We never met before."  
  
"No, we didn´t. I´ve heard a lot about you. You were a very good tool, like Kiehl and his   
friends were."  
  
"You..."  
  
"I see, you are beginning to understand. Yes, I am the man behind the comitee, I did  
command your fates... Kiehl and his equal-minded are working for me, because I promised  
them power and immortality... And you were working for my because I promised you to reunite   
you with your wife... whispering in your dreams... And do you know the true ironie? - I made   
it happen that way. I made Naoko Akagi removing the security programs... Well, she didn´t   
quite resisted, on the other hand I would have killed her lovely little daughter... You see,   
it´s truely that easy."  
  
Ikari lower the hand with the hankerchief, the bloodied tissue slowy fell to the ground.  
"You... damned bastard!"  
And he charged the other one.  
  
At once the soldier started to move.  
  
Ikari didn´t reach his target, smashed against an invisible wall, stumbled backwards,  
right into the arms of two soldier who kicked away his legs gave him several kicks into  
his stomach.  
"What..." he barely managed to say.  
  
"You call it an AT-field... I call it magic..."  
  
"Tell me your name, you son of a bitch..."  
Ikari was spitting blood.  
  
"So, if that´s your final wish... I am Alessandro deCagliostro."  
  
Fuyutsuki gave a startled shout.  
  
"Do you have anything to say, professor?"  
  
"I know your name. You are a... warlock..."  
  
"Oh, I feel hurt, but I guess that happens if one keeps a low profile for about four  
centuries.. Yes, you did hear right, Kozo - I may call you Kozo, may I not? - but I  
guess you are not truely surprised, aren´t you? Yui Ikari did tell you that she is...  
special, didn´t she? Well, now I do control her work, the EVANGELIONs, she had created  
with such great plans in mind, will do my bidding. The end of the world is near, that´s  
the only reason I am talking to you now. The EVAs were built to rescue humanity, now  
they will destroy it. And I will be laughing while my associates are feeding upon the  
deads´ souls."  
He touched the suitcase with Adam´s embryo.  
"And you open the way for me, without being forced. - Ikari, think about it, why did you  
fall for my temptations? You didn´t even had a doubt, you never the scenenario I created.  
Not even once you felt regret... how many human would appreciate your plan if they were  
told to give up their bodies?"  
Lout raving laughter echoed through the room...  
  
  
***  
  
  
Within the next corridor a single elite soldier looked up, hearing a scratching.  
The next moment about seventy kilo of living weight crushed upon him, he did feel the  
cold muzzle of the silencer at his brow, saw a bright flash.  
  
Kaji drapped the dead body to the next tool room, removed the black clothing and the  
weapons.  
  
  
***  
  
  
ODIN-HQ  
  
Larsen stood over the last of the men who had been send to kill him, blood dripping from  
his steel hands.  
  
Right behind him his comrade-in-arms stood, the still smoking gun in his hand.  
"Only five... Kiehl did truely underestimate you."  
  
"I wasn´t alone, Commander."  
  
"George, call me George, Wolf."  
  
"Thanks."  
  
"And now?"  
  
"Lets bring it to an end."  
  
"To Kiehl?"  
  
"Exactly."  
Larsen reached for a gun on the floor, reloaded the weapon, limped to the door.  
"Why did he had to shoot a bullet into my good leg?"  
  
The two of them marched down the corridor, guns in hand.  
  
An alarm went off, civilian members of the secret service hurried away.  
  
At the end of the corridor was the bureau of ODIN-director Lorenz Kiehl, in front of the  
door two men in black suits stood, similiar to those who had been send to kill the two.  
They reached for their guns, went to the ground at the same moment, when the two ravens  
of ODIN gunned them down, moved over them and kicked in the door to Kiehl´s rooms...  
  
  
***  
  
  
Kaworu hovered towards the large portal he suspected Adam behind.  
  
Behind him EVA-02 and -03 landed crushing at the bottom of the shaft. He didn´t turn  
around, EVA-02 couldn´t stop him anymore, he was sure about that.  
He raised a hand in commanding manner - and the portal opened... gave free the view at  
a cruzified white giant with a seven-eyed mask on it´s face - and at a bluehaired yound  
woman, blocking Kaworu´s path with clenched fists, staring at him with red eyes.  
  
For a moment he hesitated, the other one´s gaze cut deeply into the deepth of his very  
being. He smiled forced, levitated forward... crushed into an obstacle...  
  
"So, you can generate an AT-field, too..." he whispered, seeing the strain upon her face.  
"Lets see how long you can keep it up..."  
  
  
***  
  
  
Asuka climbed out of the pilotseat, evacuated the entryplug manually, opened the hatch,  
stopped.  
  
She watched Kaworu hovering before the step of the portal, arms extended, with blue  
lightning shooting out of his hands, hitting an invisible obstacable. And beyond the  
open portal-doors she saw blood flowing out of Rei´s nose, saw her knees starting to  
shake, saw Kaworu still hammering at Rei´s AT-field.  
  
She looked back into the plug, to the pilotseat, to the emergencypack inside of the back  
of the seat.  
A knife should be part of the survival equipment...  
  
  
***  
  
  
Rei felt her strenght ebbing. Her heart seemed to burst, her breath was fast.  
  
The power of angel seemed untiring, again and again he attacked the AT-field she had  
raised intuitivly.  
  
Her knees wanted to give way, tears blurred her vision.  
  
Keep on, we are on our way. she suddenly heard a feint voice within her head.  
  
"Who..." she whispered. "Yui-san..."  
  
We are coming.  
  
"Yes... Shinji..."  
Once again he collected new strenght, threw everything she had against the angel...  
  
  
***  
  
  
Asuka stormed at Kaworu, survivalknife in hand.  
"Kaworu, stop it!" she screamed.  
  
Slowly he turned towards her.  
"Asuka..."  
For a moment his eyes got soft, then he shook his head.  
"Last chance, redhead... go, or suffer the consequences..."  
  
An the portal´s other side Rei went to the ground groaning, hands pressed against her  
belly.  
  
"No, it´s your last chance..."  
She readied the knife, moved into one of the position her uncle had shown her.  
  
"If it has to be..."  
He raised the hand, tiny lightning dancing between his fingers.  
  
Before he was able to act, Asuka lunged at him, carried forward by her anger, pierced the  
angel´s AT-field with the blade, delievering a nasty cut to Kaworu´s forearm, laying open  
the bones.  
  
Kaworu stepped back, staring at the strongly bleeding wound.  
"You... will... suffer..."  
And he changed...  
His back seemed to explode below the shoulderblades when two insectoid arms with chitinous   
blades at the ends broke free. His jaw expanded, showing a set of shark-teeth. A blinking  
and his red eyes were replaced by bloodred facettes, grey scales broke through his skin.  
  
Asuka started to feel sick. The day before she had given this... monster... a good-night-  
kiss...  
  
The chitinblades moved into her direction, she whirled aside, lifted the knife, felt a  
sharp pain within her left cheek, where one of Kaworu´s blade had touched her lightly,  
felt warm blood running down her cheek the next moment, moved backwards.  
  
Kaworu pushed her backwards step for step, soon Asuka found herself completly in the  
defensive, her plugsuit cut at numerous places, on the other hand one of Kaworu´s blades  
had broken. She knew that she would loose this fight... that could only try to gain time  
for Rei to... to do whatever... to run away, to get help... to pray for a wonder...  
  
A large black bird flew above them, made a low croak.  
And the wonder did happen...  
  
Suddenly her opponent lost his balance, stumbled past her.  
She used the opportunity, pushed the blade with both hands into the back of his neck.  
  
The angel went down, kept laying down twitchingly.  
  
She ripped the blade out of the body, cut him again and again until he finally stopped  
moving.  
Then she got up, panting, saw the spot of ice what had been responsible for Kaworu stumbling,   
saw unit one finally reaching the bottom of the shaft, limped with clenched teeth to Rei who   
was laying crumbled on the ground, got down on her knees, touched Rei´s shoulder.  
  
"Rei!" Shinji screamed who had just left the entryplug of EVA-01 and ran toward them.  
  
Next to them the ravenbird landed, looked at them with slanted head. Next to him a second  
bird of the same kind landed, it´s feathers white as snow. Both exchanged croakings, while   
Shinji sat bowed over Rei, softly caressing her cheek.  
  
"Rei, please, say something..."  
  
Her hand slowly moved towards his, squeezed it weakly. Her breath went thrusting.  
"Shinji... our child... the pain..."  
  
"No... please... no..."  
He lifted her up, embraced her.  
  
"I get a doctor!" Asuka whispered, wanted to jump to her feet, was stopped by a hand  
touching her shoulder, an icecold hand.  
She looked up, into the face of the person whose shadow fell upon her.  
  
"Help has just arrived." Winter diArgio whispered with his scratching voice while going  
down on his knees next to Rei and whispering words in a language that already hadn´t been   
used anymore when the city of Rome had been founded.  
  
Reißs breathing normalized.  
  
"Better?"  
  
"Yes. Thank you..."  
  
Shinji looked up.  
"Sensei..."  
  
Winter just nodded.  
"It´s okay."  
For a short moment he felt reliving the past and the time he had been a father himself,  
the time he had fought for his son´s future against those like him and won. And he knew  
he had always protected others.  
  
A short gesture healed Asuka´s several cuts.  
  
When he got up he felt the exhaustion that followed the spontanous usage of his powers.  
He looked at the crucified giant, finally recognizing where all the chi-energies went,  
looked to the EVANGELIONs, two laying on their sides, the third one on it´s knees.  
Slowly he walked up to unit one, following a feint calling.  
He weaved an arcane pattern into the air to make it easier for him, identifying the  
nature of the caller, saw a golden glow emanating behind the chestarmor. A further gesture   
and he ascended until hovering directly in front of the glowing.  
The amulett in front of his chest left it´s place, the halfclosed eye opened completly,  
giving away a soft warm glow.  
And he saw...  
"Doktor Yui Ikari, I assume..." 


	17. Chapter 16 - Cagliostro

Chapter 16 - Cagliostro  
  
  
"NERV-headquarters are under our control now", SEELE-07 explained.  
  
"And so it begins." SEELE-04 whispered.  
  
"Soon... soon we will be gods." said SEELE-06.  
  
Lorenz Kiehl smiled, of course nobody saw it since they were meeting in virtual reality,  
represented by black monoliths.  
  
Suddenly the symbol of SEE-03 vanished.  
  
"Where did he go? Why was the link disconnected?" SEELE-02 asked.  
  
The very next moment a shot was heard. SEELE-08 vanished.  
  
"What...?"   
  
"Intruders!" SEELE-07 screamed. "Assassins are entering my rooms!"  
  
"They are Raven! ODIN´s Raven! Kiehl, you turned against us!" SEELE-05 screamed, started  
to say more but only gurgled before his monoliths vanished, too.  
  
Kiehl removed the VR-visor, found himself back in reality, turned his head towards the door   
that was just kicked in.  
  
Two armed men stormed his bureau.  
  
Kiehl reached for his desk´s drawer.  
"Leave my bureau, now!"  
  
"Director Kiehl, by the power given to me by the United Nation I am arresting you for treason.   
You´ve become a traitor at the ODIN-agenda and humanity itself." Wolf Larsen bellowed.  
  
"You can´t arrest me, I´m your most superior!"  
  
"So? Raise your hands above your head, but slowly, or I´ll shoot you down."  
  
"You won´t dare... You can´t! I am immortal!" Kiehl screamed, raising the gun he had got  
out of the drawer.  
  
The bullets hitting him and spraying his brain all over the wall proved him wrong.  
  
Larsen leaned against the doorframe and let himself moving to the ground.  
"It´s over..."  
  
His companion noticed that one leg of Larsen´s trousers was full of blood, unknoted his  
tie.  
"Here, take that to interupt the bleeding."  
  
"Thanks. Would you tell the collegues what we have done - and why?"  
  
"Yes, I will." He shouted several coded commandwords into the room´s emptyness.  
  
"What are you doing?"  
  
"With Kiehl gone and nobody to override my commands I will try to get the status of the  
Raven-units."  
  
"Good."  
The cyborg closed his eyes, his battle was over.  
  
  
***  
  
  
"Doctor Yui Ikari, I assume."  
  
Who? Who´s there?  
  
"I am Winter bani Hermes."  
He used the formulation used by members of different Traditions to introduce themselves.  
  
Magus diArgio...  
  
"Did we meet before?"  
  
No, but I know of your reputation. Archmage Winter diArgio, the Great Teacher of the Order...   
the Dark Savant... the Traditions General...  
  
"That was long ago."  
  
Thou carry an umbrood within your very being...  
  
"For eight centuries now... the reason for me still living after all the time."  
  
Such an irony.  
  
"How did thou happen to be inside the EVANGELION?"  
  
I made the EVAs... with the help of some collegues... during the first test unit one did  
absorb me. My soul has been imprisoned within the core for eleven years now.  
  
"Hm... I´ll do my best to get thou out, my wort of honor being a Magus of the Traditions  
upon it."  
  
For eleven years I have hoped for a collegue discovering my state of being. The absorption   
paralyses my own powers. How did thou find me?  
  
"The Council of Nine sent me."  
  
Yes.  
  
"So, what must be done?"  
  
My body has to be reconstructed for my soul to be transfered.  
  
"That should be possible, I´ll call some of those collegues still within the mortal realm,  
together we should be able to solve this problem."  
  
It´s good to be able to talk to another scientist. Wait... The MAGI are transmitting data  
to the tactical computers... armed troops have invaded headquarters!  
  
"Oh, great... that might be a little delay for our schedule. It´s your terrain, what do  
thou suggest?"  
  
I should be able reboot the defense grid with the MAGIs´ help, but I would have to be  
within central dogma.  
  
"Okay, I´ll get the boy."  
  
No, the EVA´s too large to reach the MAGI.  
  
"Other suggestions? Could the core be removed without inflicting damage to thou?"  
  
It´s possible, but a risk... the core gives away strong radiations.  
  
He smiled ironically.  
"I´ll have to take this risk. Are you ready?"  
  
Yes...  
  
A forceful gesture made the chestarmor break, freed the pulsating core.  
  
Shinji, who hadn´t given a look before, being busy holding Rei, looked up.  
"What?"  
  
Another gesture ripped the core free, made it hovering by the mage´s side.  
  
We should take Doctor Soryu with us.  
  
Who?"  
  
Unit two... Doctor Kyoko Soryu of the Virtuell Adepts met a fate similiar to mine.  
  
"Good."  
  
Yet another gesture, a short nod, and a second core as hovering at the first one´s side.  
  
"He, what are you doing?!" Asuka shouted, but was ignored.  
  
The second core emanated unreadable thoughts.  
  
Yui Ikari started talking to the second prisoner, while Winter drew further symbols into  
the air with his hands.  
  
Kyoko Soryu awakened with a long mental scream.  
  
"Talk to her, Doctor Ikari, I´ll prepare for our ascension into the shaft."  
He felt the heat emanating from the cores, knew this to be the beginning of the end.  
"And so it ends..." he whispered, turned around in midair for a last time. "Tymael, protect the   
children!" he ordered his familiar, then the strange trinity rose into the  
air, ascended into the shaft, faster and faster.  
  
The armored security doors that had closed after unit one shattered like glass when the steel   
was deeply frozen and turned into ice...  
  
  
***  
  
  
The commander of the invading elite troops stood in front of Cagliostro.  
"I´ve lost contact to the teams I had positioned at the central shaft."  
  
"That´s... a shame. How did you react?"  
  
"Another team is under way to survey the situation."  
  
"Good."  
  
"Just a moment... I am getting their report..." The man turned pale. "Broken statues of  
ice..."  
  
"Repeat that!"  
  
"My men report finding severel statues of ice in the shape of men, broken on the floor."  
  
"Your men shall enter the shaft and kill everybody they meet."  
  
"Yes, I´ll tell them."  
  
Ikari opened the eyes wide.  
"There are only children within the terminal dogma..."  
  
"Your precious pilots, Ikari... your son... why should I care?"  
  
Gendo pushed Aoba who had supported him, aside, stumbed towards the puppetmaster, was  
stopped by the warlock´s bodyguard who started to beat him up again.  
  
"Stop!" Misato Katsuragi screamed, attacked one of the soldier, was throw backwards to  
next moment, clutching her stomach with both hands where she had been shot...  
  
"You all will die", Cagliostro whispered. "You just might decide about the way you die  
by yourself." He frowned, staring at a point beyond the next wall. "I fell something...  
a presence I haven´t felt for a long time... Colonel?"  
  
"Yes?"  
The commanding officer stiffed.  
  
"Have your men search the headquarters... we have an unwanted guest, he must die."  
  
"Yes."  
  
  
***  
  
  
Winter had left the two imprisoned soul behind within the MAGIs´ room, marched now into  
the direction Yui was telling him.  
  
Be careful. The leader of the invaders is the Nephandi Cagliostro.  
  
He stopped, staring at the screen that was still showing Ikari´s message.  
"Cagliostro..."  
  
You know him?  
  
"He was my student once, my only failure... I´ve already known that he had summoned the   
angels..."  
He had to laugh.  
"Strangly, how it all comes together, brick for brick... tell me, please, why did thou  
construct the EVANGELIONs in the first time?"  
  
To cross the Tempest.  
  
"That´s fitting... the student I failed to show the path, the mission I failed to succeed..."  
A grim smile appear on his face.  
"Can doctor Soryu hear me?"  
  
Yes.  
  
"I´m sorry, I don´t know if I will be able to keep my promise..."  
  
What are thou going to do?  
  
"Show me the way to Cagliostro."  
  
Alright, follow the signs. What´s the plan?  
  
"To bring it to an end..." he whispered, throw three crystals of ice into the air, summoned the   
Armaments of Ice, wove further arcane patterns while starting to move again.  
  
We have managed to reactivate the defense grid. I will be able to support thou.  
  
"Good..."  
Suddenly he felt pain, like a dagger piercing his heart. He stopped, pressed the hand  
against his chest, feeling neverending sorrow.  
"No..."  
A single tear left his left eyes.  
  
What happened?  
  
"My familiar just died..."  
  
  
***  
  
  
Five soldiers wearing dark combatsuits reached the bottom of the shaft, weapons readied.  
  
"Ah, finally somebody comes. Rei needs to see a doctor..." Asuka shouted, stopped talking  
when the guns were pointed at her, stepped back.  
  
Rei was still laying on the ground, head on Shinji´s lap.  
"Danger..."  
  
Shinji turned the head, breaking eyecontact to his beloved, to watch the newcomers.  
His eyes widened.  
  
The white raven croaked, beat with his wings, produced a strong gust of wind throwing the  
soldiers from their feet.  
  
They fired at the bird.  
  
Shinji threw himself over Rei, covering her with his body, felt something hot piercing  
his plugsuit and touching his skin, when a projectile passed him.  
  
Asuka jumped behind the large doorframe.  
  
The raven Tymael croaked a last time and went down in the cloud of bloodied feathers.  
  
A single gun bellowed, four times altogether. Four of the soldier sank limb to the ground,  
the last one, the one who had shot, removed some of the paint from his face with his sleeve.  
"Sorry that I didn´t intercepted earlier", Ryoji Kaji explained while getting down next  
to Shinji and Rei. "Are you alright?"  
  
"Yes, Kaji", Shinji panted. "What happened?"  
  
"Ah, just a few lunatics who have intruded headquarter and took everybody else hostage."  
  
"Is this true?"  
  
"Yes, the four of us are the only one they didn´t caught - and I am doing my best to  
reduce their numbers a little bit."  
  
"You... shot them..."  
  
"It was necessary. - And Rei, are you okay?"  
  
"Yes..."  
The pain was gone, and, strangly, she was sure that her child hadn´t been hurt either.  
  
"Good. - Shinji, what about the EVAs? With just one EVANGELION we would chase them out of the   
geofront."  
  
"Ah... Sensei diArgio did... the cores..."  
  
"Who? What kind of sensei?"  
  
"Kaji, it´s... ah..."  
  
Rei placed a hand upon Shinji´s.  
"We are unable to do anything. Without the cores the EVAs won´t react, even if they had  
the energy... I..."  
She tried to get up, but was kept back by Shinji.  
  
"Kaji, what can we do?"  
  
"You will stay here..." He threw Asuka one of his gun. "You know how to use this, don´t   
you?"  
  
"Yes, Kaji, I do." Asuka nodded.  
  
"Good. You will take shelter here, I will go up again."  
  
"Kaji-san..."  
  
"Yes, Rei?"  
  
"Let me give you the codes to the express elevator..."  
  
  
***  
  
  
Hyuga crouched next to Misato who still had both hands pressed against her stomach section,   
and stared at the lunatic who was calling himself Cagliostro - and who was holding all their   
lifes within his hands.  
  
Just two soldiers did stay, the others had left for the search, but they had positioned  
themselves where they could fire their automatic weapons into the whole room.  
  
Gendo Ikari stood with shaking legs in front of the desk, his pullover covered with red  
marks, his glasses damaged, his nose broken, the lips bruised, seemingly at the end of his  
strenght.  
  
"Do you have anything to tell me?" the warlock asked smirking.  
  
"Burn in hell..."  
  
"Oh, how... original... I wasn´t told something like this for the last... hm, two centuries.   
But I´ve been there already, too hot. The children should be dead by now. It´s  
a pity Tabris did fail, alas, I will have to summon another umbrood, it´s a minimal delay...   
But I don´t need you anymore, Ikari."  
He gestured with just one finger, pointing at Gendo Ikari and the Commander of NERV flew  
through the air, as if he had been hit by an invisible fist.  
Cagliostro raised a hand, like a doll at invisible strings Ikari was lifted up and thrown  
against the wall crushingly.  
  
"Stop it!" Fuyutsuki shouted. "Why don´t you kill us?"  
  
"Because I want to have some fun."  
  
"That ends now." a female voice said in his back.  
  
Fuyutsuki´s eyes, looking over Cagliostro´s shoulder, widened.  
"Yui..."  
  
Behind the warlock Yui Ikari stood, wearing a white labcoat, slightly immaterial with  
dust dancing between her and the holoprojector under the ceiling.  
  
"What?" Cagliostro hissed, without thinking he called lightning down upon the scientist,  
the flash shot throught the projection inefficiently, hit the floor, left a burnt mark  
behind.  
  
Yui looked at him with anger.  
"More than ten years..."  
  
"How could thou free yourself?"  
  
"I had help."  
  
The same moment the ceiling explode right over Cagliostro and within a rain of icesplitters a   
small figure landed on the desk´s table, cloathed in ice and shadows,  
threw dagger made of ice at the guards, nailing them at the walls.  
"Hello, Alessando..." Winter diArgio whispered.  
  
"So we finally meet again..."  
  
"It´s been a long time... too long for my tastes..."  
  
"Yes... But today I will be the master!"  
  
"Of course... Any other mental disorders you want to talk about?"  
He marked his words with a small hailstorm forming above his former student´s head,   
jumped from the table. He pointed at the door, turning towards the hostages. "Leave now."  
  
The door was opened from the outside - by Ryoji Kaji who jumped into the room with a gun  
in each of his hands, rolled aside and scanned the situation.  
  
Between the mages undescribealbe forces were at work, lightning flashes, thunder roared,  
fireballs exploded and acid clouds were drifting between them, while the NERV-crewmen  
ran for their lifes. Hyuga and Aoba dragged Misato away, the last to leave was Gendo  
Ikari, still staring at the image of his wife standing in the middle of chaos.  
  
Finally Winter stumbled backwards, his shields breaking under a hailstorm of fireballs.  
  
"Now, Master... still dealing with the old weaknesses? Yes, I was a good student, even  
while not listening to you talking about duty and responsibility... why serving in heaven  
if one can rule in hell?"  
The Nephandi laughted while his opponent tried to get back onto his feet.  
"You failed again. Again you failed because of me, for the third time... do you remember  
LaRochelle? Oh, you do, I´m sure, surely you couldn´t forget the deathscreams of your  
comrades-in-arms, those you have lead right into oblivion... How was it like having your  
son die in your arms? Having your beautiful beloved, the Lady Rasha, sacrifice herself to  
spirit you away to secure your survival?"  
  
"You... devil..."  
  
"Yes, a devil I am and I am proud of it. Do you want to know the reason your carefully  
crafted battleplan did fail? The reason of the Technocracy waiting for you? They knew that  
you were coming, that the Tradions would threw into battle everything they had up to the  
last Initiate... because I told them. And now, die with this knowledge tearing at your heart,   
knowing that it all was your fault, General!"  
Cagliostro raised the hand to deliever the deathstroke.  
  
Kaji fired, emptying the clips. The bullets hit the barrier surrounding the warlock  
inefficiently, but created the diversion Winter needed to play his final trump...  
  
Out of the mage´s nose and mouth came a white mist, forming a humanoid only slightly human form   
with long arms and a stout head, a creature of cold with glowing yellow eyes that  
without hesitation attacked Cagliostro, shedding his shields effordlessly, piercing the  
warlock´s chest with a clawed hand. And then the creature just vanished...  
  
Cagliostro stood unmoving in the center of the room, unable to even move an eyelid.  
  
Shaking and panting Winter got up, he had to seek support at the desk while time itself  
was catching up with him, while his hair thinned and wrinkles and puckers apeared while  
his apparent age became that of a onehundred years old man.  
  
Yui Ikari´s projection moved towards him, the outreached hand moved right though his chest.  
"What did happen?"  
  
"I freed... the umbrood within me... the reason for my longlifyty..."  
  
"You need help at once."  
  
"I still have something to finish."  
In a mixture of newly gained power and last reserves he walked up to Cagliostro.  
"Alessando diCagliostro bani Hermes... Filius ex Winter... in the year 1773 the High  
Council of the Hermetic Order sentenced thou to death for treason and conspiration with  
the Powers Down Below... sentenced thou to Gilgul to the utter destruction of body, spirit and   
soul to leave nothing being to remind of your shame."  
He coughed.  
"Due to the missing presence of a Black Tribunal I will carry out the sentence by myself  
as I swore it due to the Hermetic Oath..."  
And he started to whisper words of power not made for the human tongue, powerful enough  
to make the walls vibrate, powerful enough to make Kaji´s ears bleed, that old that just  
speaking them was enough to slay all crickets and other insects with the geofront. These  
words that were older than humanity itself were followed by a single command: "Die!"  
  
And Cagliostro was silenced until the end of time...  
  
  
to be concluded... 


	18. Chapter 17 - Endings and Beginnings

Chapter 17 - Endings and Beginnings  
  
  
During the next days a handful men and women from all the world arrived at Tokio-3,  
following Winter diArgio´s, all of them members of the Traditions.  
The EVA-hangar was transformed into a large laboratory with the MAGI at it´s center,  
resembling an alchemist´s workshop in many ways. The newcomers started working at the  
reconstruction of the body two of their own from a few left strings of DNA.  
With each day the archmagus withered more and more, slowly becoming a walking mummy,  
losing more and more strenght with each passing day, but refusing any help, redirecting  
all resources to the main project, finally he directed the work from a chair inside the  
controlroom.  
  
Misato Katsuragi survived her injuries, as did Gendo Ikari.  
The NERV-hq was placed under absolute quarantine since the world still wasn´t ready for  
the devellopments happening inside the pyramid...  
  
  
***  
  
  
"Master?"  
  
The ancient man looked up, had to focus to better see the other one.  
"Ah, Michael..." Winter whispered.  
  
"We... we are ready."  
  
"Good."  
He smiled a toothless smile.  
"Then I can leave, my boy."  
Groaning he got up, using all concentration for a final spell to open a gate to the realm  
of the mirrorborder.  
  
"Master, where are thou going?"  
  
"I have fulfilled all my promises. You don´t need me anymore."  
  
"That´s not right, the Order needs thou, we need thou and your wisdom, your knowledge..."  
  
He looked at his last student and shook his head.  
"No, I gave you and the other´s all I had to give, told you all I know... This is a new  
beginning, I am closing my eyes and I have a vision of the future, a future without the   
Order, without different Traditions, with a new communion... the future is yours´, do the  
best of it."  
  
"Master..."  
  
"Not to rule but to teach, that´s our mission, never forget it... I can see, that the  
EVANGELION will break the Tempest, that the lost ones will return... give them my regards,   
tell them I didn´t fail again..."  
  
"Don´t go, Master..."  
  
He shook his head again, turned towards the large window, scanned the hangar, let his  
gaze move over the scientists working at the artificial birth/growth chambers to the more  
spirituel inclined of his breathen who had joined the Akashik brothers in their chants,  
protecting the souls within the cores and preparing them for their journey.  
The chambers started glowing softly, at the same time the cores dimmed.  
  
"Transfer completed."  
  
He nodded.  
"Doctor Ikari, doctor Soryu, my best wished will accompain you."  
With these words he turned and stepped through the portal into the mirrorborder.  
  
  
***  
  
  
At the same time a ceremony started within the headquarter´s mess, whose participants  
probably would have been even more nervous had they known what happened inside the hangar.  
  
It was day Shinji Ikari and Rei Ayanami were getting married...  
  
The by now very pregnant Rei sat in a wheelchair while Shinji stood, to their sides Asuka  
and Kaji stood acting as witnesses, with Shinji´s father saying in the back of the room.  
The ceremony was executed by Kozo Fuyutsuki, the second-in-command. Since NERV was a military   
institution the commanding officer had the right to marry those under his jurisdiction. The   
former professor hasted through his text, since Rei was experiencing the labour pains in even   
shorter intervals. After having screamed her "Yes, I will" and after Fuyutsuki having declared   
them husband and wife they hurried to the hospital.  
Gendo stayed before the operating room´s doors while Shinji entered to stay by Rei´s side. The   
younger Ikari looked over his shoulder just before the doors closed behind her, saw the tears   
in his father´s eyes.  
  
  
***  
  
  
Again he stood at the edge of the cliff above the whirling Tempest, staring down into   
the chaos, seeing the faces of his beloved, of people who once had shared his path and  
were long gone.  
  
He sensed the presence of another human, didn´t have to turn around to recognize the  
blind seeress.  
  
"I am sorry, Magus diArgio."  
  
"Yes... that´s what you have seem, isn´t it? My end..."  
  
"That´s right."  
  
"Couldn´t you give me a warning? Had I known that I would meet Cagliostro..."  
  
"I wasn´t allowed."  
  
"I see."  
  
A rush drew his attention back to the Tempest.  
Out of the chaos a shape rose, hovering above the winds. The mage recognized the being  
that had existed inside himself for all the centuries, looked at the being with expectation.   
Did it come to finish his existence to take revenge for all the years of imprisonment?  
  
The umbrood´s words are louder than the roaring of the Tempest below, but at the same  
time soft and whispering.  
"I´ll give you HIS sentence, lilims... You passed HIS tests, the future is yours to shape..."  
With the last word the final angel, the angel of humanity, returned into the Tempest.  
  
"Tell the tale." Winter whispered. "We are free from heaven and hell..."  
  
"I will."  
  
With a smile on his lips he did the final step, was swallowed by the maelstorm...  
  
And a golden shining winged vision came out of the chaos, ascending towards the border  
to the mundane realm of earth...  
  
  
***  
  
  
The abbot of the temple of the Brotherhood raised his head when a coalblack raven landet  
in front of him and gave a soft croak. The old man made a clapping gesture, but with  
just one hand.  
As a reaction the temple´s bells started tolling, as did bells within countless temples  
and shrines all over the country...  
  
  
***  
  
  
Shinji Ikari couldn´t look away from his son who was sleeping in his mother´s, Shinji´s wife´s,   
arms.  
"He´s beautiful."  
  
Rei smiled, tired, but happy.  
"Our son..."  
  
Somebody knocked at the door, the door was opened a bit.  
"May I... come in?" Gendo Ikari asked with trembling voice.  
  
Shinji looked at his father, then at Rei.  
"Yes."  
At this moment he could forgive him...  
  
  
***  
  
  
Who are you?  
"Ich am Rei Aya... Rei Ikari."  
What are you doing?  
"I live."  
Why do you live?  
She looked at the child in her arms, the just a few days old boy who was returning her  
gaze from icegrey laughing eyes, looked to Shinji who stood next to her an arm place  
around her shoulders, looked at Misato who was driven into the room in a wheelchair by  
Kaji, looked at Gendo Ikari who had broke down crying when Yui had entered the room,  
looked at Yui Ikari who had been freed after all the long years of imprisonent, looked  
through the testcenter´s large window into the EVA-hangar where Asuka and her mother were   
embracing each other without words.  
"Does it need any other reasons to live?"  
  
  
  
The End  
  
  
  
----  
  
Yes, it´s over.  
Really.  
I hope you had fun.  
Don´t read any further!  
I mean it! 


End file.
